DeepLife, a Paris-based techbio company developing AI-powered digital twins of human cells, and 3billion, an AI-powered genomics company specialising in rare disease diagnostics and drug discovery, have announced a co-development collaboration to discover and develop new small-molecule therapeutics against novel targets, with a focus on genetic modifiers.
The partnership combines DeepLife's TwinCell virtual cell technology, which identifies molecular drivers of disease using causal AI and large-scale multi-omics data, with 3billion's patient genomic insights and AI-driven medicinal chemistry platform to validate promising targets and design novel therapeutics.
Together, the two companies create an AI-native path from causal targets to sed molecules. The collaboration will apply the combined engine across a pipeline of programs in multiple indications, with a focus on genetic modifier targets: genes that influence whether, and how severely, a disease develops in people who carry the same disease-causing mutation. Modifier targets may offer new routes to treatment where the underlying disease gene is difficult to drug directly.
"TwinCell allows us to reliably unravel causal, disease-relevant and unseen drug targets – many of which are still considered undruggable," said Jonathan Baptista, co-founder and chief executive officer of DeepLife. "By combining that capability with 3billion's genomic data and AI-powered chemistry, we are creating a powerful new drug discovery platform capable of generating novel small molecule therapies against these novel targets, starting with our first program and extending to other indications."
“Over the past decade, rare disease diagnostics has given 3billion a deep understanding of how genetic changes drive disease,” said Changwon Keum, chief executive officer of 3billion. “Partnering with DeepLife lets us combine that understanding and our drug design capabilities with TwinCell's causal view of disease biology, opening a new path to targets that have long been out of reach.”
Under the collaboration, DeepLife will use TwinCell to build causal models of disease from human single-cell and multi-omics data. Powered by more than 100 million harmonised single-cell omics data points, TwinCell maps the regulatory and signalling networks that drive diseases, enabling researchers to identify causal targets, uncover previously unexplored biological pathways and predict how disease states can be therapeutically reversed.
The two companies will combine 3billion’s genomic insights from more than 110,000 sequenced individuals with DeepLife’s AI-powered virtual cell technology to identify promising therapeutic targets. Drawing on its expertise in rare disease genetics, modifier-target discovery, and structure-based analysis, 3billion will confirm and characterise these targets, including identifying novel and allosteric binding pockets. It will then use its AI-driven medicinal chemistry platform to design candidate compounds against the selected targets.
The companies aim to advance a portfolio of programs through preclinical and IND-enabling development and generate assets ready for partnering with pharmaceutical developers.
