PostEra, Inc.

BOSTON, Jan. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- PostEra, a biotechnology company specializing in machine learning for preclinical drug discovery, today announced an expansion of their partnership with Pfizer. The parties will launch a new Antibody-Drug-Conjugate (ADC) collaboration while also expanding their existing $260M AI Lab collaboration, which itself was built upon a successful Generative Chemistry partnership. The teams will leverage PostEra's AI platform, Proton, a pioneering innovation in generative chemistry and synthesis-aware design, to advance several programs. These new programs include small molecule therapeutics as well as ADCs, where PostEra will use Proton to optimize properties of payloads. PostEra will receive an upfront payment of $12M and is eligible to receive additional milestone payments and tiered royalties on any approved products arising out of the collaboration. Over the last 3 years, as part of the AI Lab, PostEra and Pfizer scientists have partnered closely to advance several small molecule programs. After Pfizer nominated the maximum number of programs, the teams have agreed to expand the collaboration to include additional targets with PostEra receiving additional upfront payment and eligibility for milestones and royalties. "We're pleased to significantly expand the use of PostEra's Proton platform. This builds on peer-reviewed publications with Pfizer validating the real-world impact of AI-driven drug discovery in hitting preclinical milestones faster than anticipated," said Alpha Lee, Chief Scientific Officer of PostEra. "This third partnership with our long-term collaborators at Pfizer underscores Proton's depth and strength in making a meaningful impact on real-world drug discovery campaigns," added Aaron Morris, CEO of PostEra. About PostEra PostEra is building a modern 21st century biopharma. We use Proton, our AI platform for medicinal chemistry, to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for patients. PostEra is advancing an internal pipeline while also advancing small molecule programs through partnerships with biopharma. We've closed over $1Bn in AI partnerships including 4 multi-year agreements with Pfizer and Amgen. PostEra is also leading an antiviral drug discovery center for pandemic preparedness, funded by one of the largest grants in NIH history. SOURCE PostEra WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

Pfizer has re-upped its drug discovery deal with AI startup PostEra to develop small molecule drugs and new warheads for antibody-drug conjugates, a major area of focus for the drugmaker following its $43 billion purchase of ADC developer Seagen. Pfizer will pay PostEra $12 million upfront for the ADC portion of the deal, according to the AI biotech, which declined to disclose the financial terms for the small molecule part of the deal. The total AI drug discovery pact with Pfizer is now worth up to $610 million, including the up to $260 million small molecule deal that the companies signed in 2022. PostEra first partnered with Pfizer in 2020 , though it did not disclose those financial details. Pfizer had nominated the maximum number of programs — “bigger than three, smaller than half a dozen,” PostEra CEO Aaron Morris said — in the small molecule partnership, and it then decided to expand the deal to add additional targets. As part of the updated deal, PostEra will also use its platform to optimize payloads used in ADCs, which consist of an antibody for targeting, a linker, and a payload — the part that kills the cancer cells once the ADC has reached its target. “The key innovation in the ADC side is precisely that approach of thinking about the payload design of ADC as a small molecule chemistry challenge,” PostEra CSO Alpha Lee said. “The payload part is a small molecule, but it’s canonically a cytotoxic natural product-like molecule. And the key innovation here is thinking about — well, can we do better in designing the payload to target specific mechanisms or specific targets, and to refine the design of the payload with AI?” Aside from its collaboration with Pfizer, PostEra signed a deal in 2023 with Amgen, and it is also working with the NIH to develop antivirals. Morris said that the startup has made $50 million in revenue since it was founded in 2019. The AI drug discovery startup has its own internal pipeline and is focusing on fertility as well as polycystic ovary syndrome, a hormone condition that impacts one in 10 women of childbearing age, according to the Office on Women’s Health . “We see a very chronic and systematic under-investment in that very important unmet medical need,” Lee said. “And we see a lot of opportunities where we can take this long body of scientific understanding which has not yet materialized into therapeutics yet, and in turn deploy our AI power in pursuing targets in that space.” The biotech expects to start IND-enabling studies for two programs this year.

BOSTON, Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PostEra, a biotechnology company specializing in artificial intelligence for preclinical drug discovery, today announced a multi-target collaboration with Amgen, a leading biotechnology company. The collaboration will leverage PostEra's AI platform, Proton, a pioneering innovation in generative chemistry and synthesis-aware design, and Amgen's drug discovery expertise, to advance up to 5 small molecule programs. Upon a certain number of programs entering the collaboration, Amgen will have the option to access some of PostEra's key AI technologies for its in-house programs, outside of the collaboration. The agreement includes upfront funding, and milestone payments, in addition to royalties on any approved products arising from the collaboration. "We are excited to collaborate with Amgen, which has a wealth of expertise across multiple therapeutic areas and an illustrious history of tackling some of biology's hardest targets", said Dr Alpha Lee, CSO of PostEra. "The Proton platform has been validated repeatedly in its ability to significantly tackle even the most challenging small molecule drug discovery programs". "We believe AI can significantly improve drug discovery but we're also aware of the hype around the technology. As such we've worked hard to prove the value of Proton on real discovery programs, with multiple partners, across multiple therapeutic areas", added Aaron Morris, CEO of PostEra. About PostEra PostEra was founded in 2019 and its machine learning technology is built on pioneering academic research done by its founding scientists. PostEra's technology addresses some of the key challenges in small molecule drug discovery by industrializing the design-make-test cycle of medicinal chemistry. PostEra advances small molecule programs through partnerships with biopharma while also advancing its own internal pipeline. The company has closed $1Bn in AI partnerships across multiple biopharma partners. PostEra also launched and led the world's largest open-science drug discovery effort; COVID Moonshot. SOURCE PostEra