Model Medicines and Scripps Research Announce a Collaboration to Discover COVID-19 Therapeutics
Model Medicines, an AI drug discovery company, today announced a collaboration with Scripps Research to develop COVID-19 therapeutics. Scripps Research is ranked the most influential institution in the world for innovation by Nature Index.
The partnership will leverage Model Medicines ActivPred AI Drug Discovery Platform, an unbiased drug, target, and disease agnostic digital chemistry engine, to discover drug candidates to treat COVID-19. Previously, the company has successfully utilized the platform to discover REP-001, REP-002, and REP-003 – three Phase II/III ready small molecule assets for the treatment of gastric, neurological, and weight disorders, respectively.
Model Medicines, a Nex Cubed digital health portfolio company, has harnessed the predictive prowess of artificial intelligence and machine learning with its ActivPred AI Drug Discovery Platform to discover drugs that may be repurposed to serve as therapeutics to treat patients suffering from COVID-19. The drugs that Model Medicines discovers for COVID-19 can enter clinical trials in as little as several months.
Model Medicines Drug Library is comprised of approximately 4,000 drug compounds that have been approved for commercial use by the U.S. FDA, or similar agencies, and 20,000+ drug compounds that are known to have successfully navigated a Phase I (human safety) clinical trial. All drugs have a full pre-clinical program, an existing or legacy supply chain, and are known to be safe and well-tolerated in humans.
Scripps Research scientists together with Calibr, its drug development division, will leverage its COVID-19 screening models and commitment to drug repurposing as part of the partnership. Calibr previously established the ReFRAME collection, the world's leading collection of known drugs, comprising over 14,000 compounds that have been approved by the FDA for other diseases or have been extensively tested for human safety, which it is bringing to bear on the current pandemic. The collaborative work with Model Medicines will augment this effort by characterizing compounds not identified to date using conventional repurposed drug screening approaches.
Dr. George Nicola, Ph.D., MBA, Founder and CTO at Model Medicines commented, "We have created a COVID-19 specific version of our ActivPred AI Drug Discovery Platform that focuses exclusively on identifying safe and effective, non-obvious therapeutics with activity against biological targets related to COVID-19 infection. Model Medicines Digital Chemistry Drug Discovery Platform leverages artificial intelligence based on fundamental chemistry to discover drugs active against COVID-19 that cannot be resolved with traditional high throughput screening approaches. At a time when tens of thousands of new COVID-19 infections occur globally each day, a partnership with Scripps Research will enable us to accelerate the pace at which these discoveries are developed."
Dr. Arnab Chatterjee, Ph.D., VP of Medicinal Chemistry for Calibr at Scripps Research commented, "We are enthusiastic to redouble our efforts in drug repurposing by leveraging Model Medicines platform, which we see as highly complementary to our screening efforts to date."
Dr. Daniel Haders II, Ph.D., Executive Chairman at Model Medicines added, "We could not be more excited about our partnership with Scripps Research and Calibr. Like Model Medicines, Calibr is committed to ending the scourge of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal is to move therapeutics from the computer to the clinic in a fraction of the time typically required to discover and bring new drugs to market and alleviate the suffering of patients afflicted by COVID-19. Creating therapeutics to treat COVID-19 also allows the global community to go back to work and for children to go back to school. Model Medicines and Calibr are committed to doing our part to ensure that happens sooner rather than later."
ABOUT MODEL MEDICINES
Model Medicines is an AI Drug Discovery company that reduces the time to bring a drug to market by 10+ years and the cost to bring a drug to market by $1B+. Model Medicines is transforming drug discovery by leveraging the historical compendium of drug development data, a drug and disease agnostic discovery platform, and unbiased AI to create Phase II/III ready drug candidates in months rather than years. In less than a year, the company has developed a robust pipeline of patent-pending therapeutics for gastric disorders, neurological disorders, and weight disorders, among others. The company is currently working with partners to discover therapeutics to inhibit COVID-19 infection and reduce its lethal side effects.
ABOUT THE SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Scripps Research is ranked the most influential institution in the world for its impact on innovation. Scripps Research expands basic knowledge in the biosciences and uses these fundamental advancements to develop profound innovations that improve wellbeing. Their researchers lead breakthrough studies that address the world's most pressing health concerns. Their educational and training programs mold talented and committed students and postdocs into the next generation of leading scientists. Scripps Research is accelerating the creation and delivery of medical breakthroughs to better human health around the globe. For more information, visit: https://www.scripps.edu/
ABOUT CALIBR
Calibr was founded on the principle that the creation of new medicines can be accelerated by pairing world-class biomedical research with state-of-the-art drug discovery and development capabilities. Leveraging the unique scientific framework of Scripps Research, Calibr has created a portfolio of drug candidates based on Scripps technologies, and is shaping a new paradigm for advancing nonprofit biomedical research to impact patients while re-investing in further innovative research. For more information, visit: https://www.scripps.edu/science-and-medicine/calibr/about/index.html
ABOUT NEX CUBED
Model Medicines was launched from Nex Cubed's Digital Health Venture Studio. Nex Cubed is an investor and innovation partner that empowers startups, investors, corporates, and governments to bring new technologies to market, helps rising companies scale, and provides paths to liquidity - the power of three. Over the last three years, Nex Cubed has established itself as a leader in early-stage innovation and acceleration, creating a global ecosystem of 3 industry-specific Centers Of Excellence, 70 investments, 45 partners, 50 strategic advisors, 50 investor advisors, and over 140 mentors. To date, the Nex Cubed portfolio companies have an aggregate value of half a billion dollars, and over 50% of the startups are led by female and minority founders. For more information, visit: https://nex3.com/
