Poolbeg Pharma successfully completes influenza AI collaboration

 (), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company specializing in infectious and prevalent diseases with significant unmet medical needs, announced the successful completion of its collaboration with CytoReason, a leading developer of computational disease models that works with some of the world’s largest pharma groups. The collaboration, established in March 2022, aimed to leverage Cytoreason’s cutting-edge AI analysis of unique influenza data to identify new novel targets for treatment.

A distinguishing factor of this collaboration is the utilization of human challenge data, provided by  (). "This is the first time AI has been used to analyse human challenge data for infectious diseases, and as far as we know, it is a unique dataset," explained Skillington. The human challenge data, obtained from healthy volunteers exposed to the influenza virus, allowed for a meticulous and comprehensive analysis of disease progression.

"We're delighted that we were able to target that efficiently and come up with this new data in a relatively short space of time. In the past, identifying new targets took many years”, Mr Skillington continued.

As well as identifying new novel drug targets, the collaboration has provided validation for Poolbeg's lead programme, POLB 001. "One bonus is that they also identified p38 MAP Kinase as an interesting target for severe influenza, and as you know, our lead program targets p38 MAP Kinase for severe influenza," emphasized Mr Skillington.

The successful collaboration highlights the value of AI-led discovery and the potential it holds for future advancements in influenza treatment. "We're at the forefront of AI discovery. We take these targets, which are already derisked due to the work done by our team at CytoReason and move toward their validation. Our model revolves around partnering with large pharma companies, and we believe this aligns well with their focus on utilizing AI for efficient programme management and target identification," stated Mr Skillington.

The next step for Poolbeg will be to explore ways to further develop the identified targets, with news expected in due course. "We're excited to move these programs forward, as we've identified multiple targets to work with. These unique insights into disease progression will hopefully lead to new therapies and treatments for influenza, addressing the significant global issue it poses," concluded Mr Skillington.

Poolbeg Pharma's collaboration with CytoReason has not only advanced their AI-driven influenza program but has also positioned them as pioneers in AI-driven discovery. This marks the second successful AI Program by Poolbeg, following the discovery of potential new drug candidates for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) announced in December 2022.

Other pivotal catalysts to come in the near-future include the laboratory validation of the RSV AI program in the second half of 2023, the imminent completion of preparations for the proof of technology clinical study involving the oral GLP-1 agonist, and the forthcoming initiation of the CAR T clinical trial utilizing POLB 001 to mitigate Cytokine Release Syndrome.