France-based pharmaceutical giant Sanofi (EPA: SAN) has entered into a strategic partnership with US biotech firm BioMap, an AI-driven drug discovery platform founded by Robin Li, CEO of Chinese internet leader Baidu (NASDAQ: BIDU; HKG: 9888), and Wei Liu, CEO of Baidu Ventures. The collaboration includes an upfront payment of USD 10 million from Sanofi, along with a series of milestone payments tied to model development, research and development (R&D), and sales, potentially valuing the deal at over USD 1 billion.
Leveraging AI for Advanced Biotherapeutics Development
This partnership will enable Sanofi to leverage its proprietary data, protein engineering, and biologics development expertise alongside BioMap’s custom-built foundational models and high-performance computing capabilities. Together, they aim to create advanced AI models and protein Large Language Models (LLMs) that facilitate biologics design and multiparametric optimization. While specific disease targets remain undisclosed, the focus is on developing breakthrough biotherapeutics across various therapeutic areas.
Building on Previous Collaborations with Baidu
Sanofi’s collaboration with BioMap follows a previous partnership with Baidu in November 2021, which granted Sanofi access to Baidu’s AI algorithms for RNA secondary structure prediction and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) design optimization through the LinearDesign platform. This ongoing collaboration underscores Sanofi’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge AI technologies into its drug discovery processes.
BioMap: A Leader in AI-Driven Drug Discovery
Founded in 2020, BioMap boasts a team of 300 scientists and AI experts, offering xTrimo, the first and largest protein-centric large language model platform that enables modeling from proteins to system levels. According to the press release, BioMap’s foundational models utilize a large model trained on extensive unlabeled data, allowing for predictions across various therapeutic areas, including immunology, neurology, oncology, and rare diseases. The company has secured USD 100 million in funding through its Series A financing round and has established partnerships with several biotech firms, including Cellomics Bio, Harbour Bio, GenomiCare Bio, Precision Scientific, and Neowise Bio.-Fineline Info & Tech
