US-based drug discovery company XtalPi, through its unit Ailux Biologics, has partnered with Janssen Biotech, a company of Johnson & Johnson (J&J), focused on its unique biologics AI platforms.
Under the partnership agreement, Janssen and its affiliates will obtain a non-exclusive licence to use Ailux Biologics’ XtalFold platform for the discovery and engineering of biologics.
XtalFold is Ailux Biologics’ in-house developed AI-based software suite that provides rapid and accurate structural insights to advance biologics innovation across multiple phases.
The software uses only sequence information to model the interaction between biomolecules, which forms the foundation of biotherapeutics like monoclonal antibodies.
In benchmark studies, XtalFold achieved superior performance in terms of overall success rate and the quality of hard-to-model regions, such as the antibody-antigen interface.
XtalFold has fully validated in more than 30 partner and internal programmes, delivering highly impactful results in different use cases.
The use cases include antigen design, epitope identification, affinity maturation, pH-sensitivity engineering, and bispecific design, said XtalPi.
XtalPi VP and Ailux Biologics head Yi (Alex) Li said: “Biologics are intricate machines that operate in three-dimensional space. XtalFold enables the visualisation and design of biologics in 3D space in real-time, which could take months using currently available experimental approaches.
“We are excited to share with Janssen this foundational technology, which has already proven transformative in-house.”
Established in 2015, XtalPi is a quantum physics-based, AI-powered, and robotics-driven, advanced research and development platform company.
The company combines quantum physics, AI, cloud computing, and large-scale robotics to provide solutions and services for biomedicine, chemical, and renewable energy industries.
Ailux Biologics is a division of XtalPi, focused on large-molecule drug discovery.
It has established a biologics discovery lab, a unique database purpose-built for AI, dubbed AtlaX, and three AI platforms, XtalFold, XenProT, and Xentient.
