Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”), a clinical-stage genetic artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery company, successfully delivered its second preclinical compound candidate (PCC) in collaboration with Fosun Pharma in June 2024, a potential breakthrough therapeutic synthetic lethal strategy for the treatment of solid tumors. Insilico expects to submit the pre-IND application for this candidate with the CDE in Q4 2024.
At the start of the collaboration, Fosun Pharma proposed four targets of interest, and the PCC target identified in this program is one of them and plays a critical role in DNA damage repair mechanisms. Insilico’s R&D team analyzed and fully validated the target through PandaOmics, an AI target recognition engine, in conjunction with Life Star 1, an AI-based robotics lab. The scientists then used Chemistry42, a chemistry generation engine, to create and design compounds from scratch for the specified target.
In preclinical studies, the candidate demonstrated good selectivity, strong antitumor efficacy as well as promising ADMET properties. The preclinical data of this program has been recognized by Fosun Pharma and meets both parties’ criteria for PCC designation. Insilico will advance the candidate to the IND activation stage, after which Fosun Pharma will undertake further research and exploration.
We are pleased to deliver the landmark PCC of this program to Fosun Pharma with the support of Insilico’s proprietary AI platform. Candidates targeting DNA repair mechanisms are playing an increasingly important role in tumor therapy. I am impressed by our partner’s vision and positive support of AI-based drug discovery. In collaboration with Fosun Pharma, Insilico aims to take AI-based drug discovery to the next level for the benefit of patients around the world.”
Feng Ren, PhD, Co-CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Insilico Medicine
“AI, as a revolutionary tool for innovative drug discovery, is continuously deepening and expanding the power of innovation in the medical field. We are excited to mark the important milestone of PCC candidacy, an innovative treatment that potentially treats solid tumors through a synthetic lethal strategy .We look forward to achieving more inspiring results in cooperation with Insilico Medicine,” says Xingli Wang, MD, PhD, CEO of Fosun Pharma. “As an innovation-driven pharmaceutical company, Fosun Pharma strives to address unmet medical needs and enhance patient access to safe and effective medicines through continuous innovation and joint efforts with our partners.”
In January 2022, Insilico Medicine announced a strategic partnership with Fosun Pharma to advance productive AI-based drug discovery programs worldwide. Just one month after the partnership, Insilico delivered the first PCC program for QPCTL, which is conducting a Phase I clinical trial in China and recently completed the first patient dose for the treatment of advanced malignancies.
Founded in 2014, Insilico Medicine is a pioneer in the use of genetic artificial intelligence for drug discovery and development. Insilico first described the idea of using genetic artificial intelligence to design new molecules in a peer-reviewed journal in 2016, which laid the foundation for its commercially available Pharma.AI platform that spans across biology, chemistry and clinical development. Backed by Pharma.AI, Insilico has designated 18 preclinical candidates in its integrated portfolio of more than 30 assets as of 2021 and has received IND approval for 7 molecules. The company recently published a paper in Nature Biotechnology that outlines the entire R&D journey of its lead drug pipeline, INS018_055, from AI algorithms to Phase II clinical trials.
