Future Literacy

Last year we announced our investment in twoXAR, a company building a next generation drug discovery platform.

As twoXAR’s five-year anniversary comes to pass, they have managed to vastly exceed expectations. Their unique, scalable approach has allowed them to deliver on rapidly building a portfolio of discovery-stage disease programs — both through internal programs and in partnership with drug developers.

At the time of our investment, twoXAR had signed its first industry partnership to develop glaucoma therapies with notable Japanese ophthalmology company Santen. Since then, twoXAR has signed four more partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

1. With Ono Pharmaceuticals, one of the top 50 pharmaceutical companies in the world by revenue, twoXAR is enabling Ono’s efforts in neurological disease. Ono seeks to build on their 300-year history of success by using twoXAR’s engine to uncover drugs with novel mechanisms of action. While Ono has partnered with other AI platforms for computational chemistry, their collaboration with twoXAR is their first in AI-driven computational biology.
2. With Adynxx, twoXAR is focused on discovering disease-modifying drugs for endometriosis, a painful disease that affects millions of women worldwide who badly need effective treatments. twoXAR’s platform reveals previously undiscovered biology, allowing scientists to attack the disease from new angles.
3. With 1ST Biotherapeutics, known as a fast-mover in the industry, twoXAR is developing solutions for glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer. Working with the 1ST Biotherapeutics’ team, twoXAR will use its AI-driven computational biology platform to identify first-in-class drug candidates that could slow, stop or reverse progression of glioblastoma.
4. In April, twoXAR announced its partnership with SK Biopharmaceuticals to drive discovery of therapies for non-small cell lung cancer. SK is a global Fortune 100 company and SK Biopharmaceuticals has had recent success with drugs they’ve discovered and developed, one gaining FDA approval and the other licensed out for $500M (EU rights). This partnership combines SK Biopharmaceuticals’ platform in AI-driven computational chemistry with twoXAR’s AI-based computational biology platform, for even greater potential gains.

With these partners, twoXAR is leveraging its platform to reveal fundamental new disease biology, enabling discovery of novel drugs that strike at the root causes of disease. The risk-sharing, reward-sharing deals span a wide range of therapeutic areas, further validating the strength, speed, and versatility of twoXAR’s approach.

twoXAR will continue to build its portfolio of drug programs through partnerships like these and its own internal programs. With rapidly growing momentum and track record, twoXAR is poised to usher in a new era of drug discovery.