AstraZeneca is doubling down in chronic kidney disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis by selecting one target for each of those via its AI-powered partner.
Originally teamed up in 2019, the Big Pharma has now selected a total of five targets via its UK counterpart, BenevolentAI. The tally includes two targets in CKD and three in IPF, a lung-scarring and breathing-constriction disease with two approved drugs — Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev and Roche’s Esbriet, both given the nod in 2014 — and a recent generic entry.
The two new targets trigger two milestone payments to the London-based startup, BenevolentAI said Thursday morning. AstraZeneca EVP of BioPharma R&D, Mene Pangalos, said the new targets are “novel rare variants,” in a statement.
The news comes nine months after the pair upped the collaboration with two more disease areas — heart failure and systemic lupus erythematosus — in a three-year extension to…
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