Poolbeg Pharma PLC (AIM:POLB) said it will be ‘breaking new ground’ by using a state of the art artificial intelligence tool to find new drug targets for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Under the terms of a deal with OneThree Biotech, it will screen for putative treatments that focus in on the immune-response pathways, have a higher probability of clinical success and have the potential to prevent and/or treat infectious diseases, investors were told.
"OneThree Biotech's AI analysis tools will allow us to break new ground in data-driven drug discovery, by allowing us to evaluate and interrogate human challenge trial data like never before,” said Poolbeg chief executive, Jeremy Skillington.
“This is a key part of our growth strategy, as we'll be able to identify and develop drugs in a more time and cost-effective manner, compared with the traditional biotech model. It will enable us to identify potential new treatments which have a higher probability of clinical success, and which can feed into our rapidly expanding pipeline in-line with our capital-light model.”
Work will get underway this quarter and researchers will assess data from the RSV human challenge studies, which is the first time AI has been deployed in this way.
OneThree will receive milestone payments based on the development of drug candidates, and royalties on sales of any product that makes it to market.
RSV is a contagious virus that affects the respiratory tract of children and at-risk older adults which, in severe cases, can cause pneumonia.
Poolbeg is a clinical-stage infectious disease pharmaceutical company, with a novel capital-light clinical model that enables it to develop multiple products faster and more cost-effectively than the traditional biotech.