Orion and Aitia collaborate on AI-powered cancer drug discovery

Finnish pharmaceutical company Orion has entered into a collaboration with Aitia to harness artificial intelligence for drug discovery and simulation in oncology. The partnership aims to develop new Gemini Digital Twins, innovative tools intended to advance cancer treatment strategies.

Orion and Aitia will combine Aitia's Digital Twins technology with Orion’s extensive pre-clinical and clinical expertise to identify and validate new drug targets. This collaboration is expected to tackle translational questions and yield drug candidates for various cancer indications.

Outi Vaarala, Orion’s senior vice president of innovative medicines and research and development, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, highlighting the potential of Aitia's Gemini Digital Twins and Causal AI technology in discovering and developing new cancer treatments. Vaarala stated that by utilizing this advanced technology, the companies aim to gain deeper insights into cancer biology, thereby accelerating the development of novel therapies that could significantly improve patient outcomes.

Orion has secured an exclusive option for the research, development, and commercialization of new drug candidates targeting diseases identified by Aitia. In return, Aitia will receive upfront payments and milestone payments upon meeting specific development and regulatory objectives. These milestone payments could exceed $10 million per drug target. Additionally, Aitia will earn tiered single-digit royalty payments on the sales of products developed through the partnership.

Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia, remarked that the collaboration with Orion is particularly exciting because it integrates Aitia’s Gemini Digital Twins, which utilize extensive multi-omic patient data, causal AI, and simulation, with Orion’s profound expertise in oncology drug discovery and development. Hill noted that by creating highly accurate and predictive disease models, the collaboration aims to uncover previously hidden mechanisms and pathways, thereby accelerating the discovery of more effective medicines.

In a separate development, Orion and MSD announced in July 2024 that their agreement for the co-development and co-commercialization of opevesostat (MK-5684/ODM-208) has been modified to grant MSD exclusive rights to the asset.

The partnership between Orion and Aitia represents a significant step forward in the use of artificial intelligence and advanced modeling in oncology drug discovery. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and combining their respective expertise, the companies aim to make substantial progress in developing new cancer treatments that could offer better outcomes for patients.