Takeda Expands De Novo Protein Research with Second AI-Driven Collaboration with Nabla Bio
Takeda and Nabla Bio have signed a new, multi-year research collaboration to advance AI-driven de novo protein therapeutic design, marking their second partnership157.
Nabla Bio will receive double-digit millions of dollars in upfront and research cost payments, and is eligible for success-based milestone payments that could exceed $1 billion in total157.
The collaboration leverages Nabla Bio’s proprietary Joint Atomic Model (JAM) platform, applying generative AI to design antibodies and other protein therapeutics against a range of challenging and novel targets1357.
This new partnership extends the companies’ ongoing work since 2022, focusing on rapid development of antibodies and optimized protein therapeutics for Takeda’s early-stage pipeline157.
Takeda's Chief Scientific Officer noted the company's strategy to accelerate drug development through advanced AI, with Nabla’s platform playing a key role in optimizing therapeutics for multiple indications17.
The explicit indications and disease targets have not been disclosed, but the scope includes multispecifics, challenging targets, and other custom therapeutic formats157.
Nabla Bio is a biotechnology company specializing in de novo therapeutic design using generative AI, and has recently gained attention for rapid antibody development facilitated by its technology1578.
Sources:
1. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251014934240/en/Nabla-Bio-Signs-Second-Takeda-Collaboration-to-Advance-AI-Driven-Design-of-Protein-Therapeutics
3. https://firstwordpharma.com/story/6321097
5. https://www.biospace.com/business/takeda-makes-1b-ai-bet-with-nabla-to-build-out-early-pipeline
7. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/takeda-turns-ai-drug-designer-after-whittling-down-rd-focus