Ono Pharmaceutical has signed a collaboration agreement with EVQLV to utilise its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered antibody design engine to develop new antibody drugs.

The partnership aims to leverage EVQLV's advanced technology to generate therapeutic antibody designs against multiple targets selected by Ono.

These designs will serve as a foundation for Ono to create potential antibodies and advance their development and commercialisation.

Ono discovery and research senior executive officer and executive director Dr Toichi Takino stated: “We are very pleased to collaborate with EVQLV having its proprietary AI-powered antibody design engine.

“We expect that the EVQLV's AI technology will enable us to create novel antibody candidates against multiple targets more promptly and effectively.”

Ono has committed to providing research funding to EVQLV and making research milestone payments.

Ono will also secure exclusive global rights to develop and commercialise the antibody drug candidates resulting from this collaboration.

EVQLV's platform is known for its integration of evolution, structure and protein language models, which enables the generation of target-specific antibody sequences.

The technology is designed to maintain the structural and functional integrity of antibodies, thus streamlining the process from recombinant antibody expression to functional testing.

EVQLV CEO and co-founder Andrew Satz stated: “At EVQLV, our mission is to make AI easily accessible to researchers in order to positively impact the odds of success in drug discovery. We are honoured to be working alongside the scientific and drug development experts at Ono, who have the ability to leverage our AI-designed antibodies and deliver breakthrough options for patients in need.”