Nabla Bio and Takeda deepen AI-powered drug discovery partnership
U.S. biotech startup Nabla Bio has expanded its collaboration with Japanese pharmaceutical giant Takeda, signing a new multi-year agreement to further integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the drug discovery process.
The partnership, building on an initial 2022 deal, includes upfront and research payments in the double-digit millions, with Nabla eligible for success-based milestones exceeding $1 billion. The companies will use Nabla’s proprietary Joint Atomic Model (JAM) platform to design next-generation protein-based therapeutics, including multi-specific drugs targeting hard-to-treat diseases.
Nabla CEO Surge Biswas described JAM as a system that “responds to molecular queries the way ChatGPT answers text questions,” generating custom antibody designs that meet specific biological targets. The company says its technology offers one of the fastest feedback loops in the biotech sector — only three to four weeks from computational design to laboratory testing.
Takeda’s renewed focus on scalable, AI-driven drug types follows its decision to exit cell therapy research earlier this year. The Japanese firm also recently joined a consortium with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop AI models using shared pharmaceutical data.
Nabla expects to deliver first-in-human data from its AI-designed therapeutics within one to two years, marking another milestone in the industry’s growing reliance on AI to cut development timelines and boost innovation.