Partners and Collaborations

In parallel to running our in-house programs, Anima has strategically structured itself to collaborate with Pharma partners across various applications. Leveraging the mRNA Lightning™ Platform, we offer our partners a novel strategy to elucidate underlying disease mechanisms and novel targets (target discovery), identify small molecule mRNA modulators for hard-to-drug diseases or undruggable targets (drug discovery), and optimize mRNA vaccines or RNA-based drugs for enhanced efficacy and safety (mRNA vaccines and RNA-based drugs optimization). Our collaboration models combine our expertise in visualizing and decoding mRNA biology with the expertise of our Pharma partners, including AbbVie, Takeda, and Lilly, to build long-term partnerships across these applications.

For partnering inquiries, please contact [email protected].

Why partner with Anima

Uncover underlying disease mechanisms and discover novel targets

Leveraging AI across experimental and computational biology enhances disease understanding through the elucidation of disease signatures. By visualizing disease biology, we provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms of diseases. We discover novel targets and our platform is capable of explaining their roles and mechanisms of action within mRNA biology.

Discovery of small molecule mRNA drugs

The key idea behind our unique drug discovery approach is that the difference between diseased cells and healthy ones can be visualized at the cellular level. With our proprietary imaging technologies, we capture millions of images of healthy and diseased cells. Our AI mRNA image neural network is trained to recognize a disease signature, the dysregulated pathway in mRNA biology that is underlying the disease’s phenotype. Our high-content, high-throughput platform screens for compounds that modulate these disease mechanisms. Using our mRNA biology knowledge graph, LLM, and the Lightning co-pilot, we proceed to elucidate their MOA and molecular targets. Our approach provides insight into disease biology and generates multiple chemistries to target disease-relevant pathways.

Optimize mRNA Vaccines and RNA-based drugs visually to increase safety and efficacy

Our platform visualizes mRNA vaccines and RNA-based drugs biology inside cells, generating and analyzing millions of images to compare different design variants across conditions. The ability to elucidate mechanisms of action through the visual signatures extracted by the neural network offers insights into drug or vaccine behavior, including cellular localization or delivery system efficiency. Our massively parallel mRNA biology lab operates a massively parallel infrastructure, running high-content screens at high-throughput, for rapid testing and iteration of hundreds of thousands of design variants.

Pharma collaborations

AbbVie and Anima Biotech Announce Collaboration for the Discovery and Development of mRNA Biology Modulators against Oncology and Immunology Targets

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), and Anima Biotech (Anima), announced a collaboration to discover and develop mRNA biology modulators for three targets across Oncology and Immunology targets. Anima will use its mRNA Lightning platform to discover novel mRNA biology modulators against the collaboration targets providing AbbVie exclusive rights to license and further develop and commercialize the programs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Anima will receive an upfront payment of $42 million and may be eligible to receive up to $540 million in option fees and research and development milestones in the aggregate across the three targets, with potential for further commercial milestones as well as tiered royalties on net sales. AbbVie has an option to expand the collaboration with up to three additional targets under the same terms as the initial collaboration, which may increase the potential value of the collaboration.

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Anima Biotech announces strategic collaboration with Takeda to discover and develop mRNA translation modulators for Neurological diseases

Anima Biotech announced an agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”) to discover and develop mRNA translation modulators for Neurological diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Anima will use its Translation Control Therapeutics platform to discover novel mRNA translation modulators against the collaboration targets. The parties will collaborate to advance the molecules to clinical candidates, which Takeda has the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize. The preclinical research collaboration will initially include Anima’s early Huntington’s Disease program against the HTT target, selectively inhibiting the mutated protein with small molecules and two additional targets named by Takeda, related to neurological diseases. Takeda will pay Anima up to approximately $120 million in upfront and preclinical research milestone payments and up to $1.1 billion in clinical and commercial milestones, assuming success of the three programs. Anima is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of each product resulting from the collaboration. Takeda has a time limited option to expand the collaboration with up to three additional targets subject to additional payments to Anima of up to $1.2 billion and tiered royalties, assuming success of these programs.

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Anima Biotech achieves first milestone in Takeda collaboration

The milestone relates to the Huntington’s Disease program which is part of a multi-target research collaboration between the companies. This achievement entitles Anima to an undisclosed milestone payment.

Anima Biotech achieves milestone in Takeda collaboration

The milestone relates to one of the two newly initiated programs as part of the multi-target collaboration. This achievement entitles Anima to an undisclosed milestone payment.

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Anima Biotech announces a strategic collaboration with Lilly for the discovery and development of translation inhibitors of several protein targets

Anima Biotech announced an agreement with Lilly for the discovery and development of translation inhibitors for several target proteins by using Anima’s Translation Control Therapeutics platform. The multi-year agreement is structured as a strategic collaboration around several undisclosed Lilly targets. Anima will use its technology platform to discover lead candidates that are translation inhibitors of the Lilly targets. Lilly will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of products resulting from the collaboration.

Under the terms of the agreement, Anima will receive $30 million in upfront payments and $14 million in research funding. Anima is eligible to receive up to $1.05 billion if all future development and commercial milestones are achieved. Anima will additionally be entitled to low to mid single-digit tiered royalties on sales of any Lilly products resulting from the collaboration.

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