Ribo, Insilico Medicine to Partner on AI-Driven siRNA Drug Development

Suzhou Ribo Life Science (Ribo) and Insilico Medicine agreed to a strategic collaboration on small interfering RNA (siRNA) drug development. The companies will leverage AI to conduct in-depth target discovery, drug molecule design and optimization, and clinical translation.

Ribo and Insilico had a previous collaboration in intelligent autonomous high-throughput screening. Now, their upgraded collaboration leverages Ribo’s industrial expertise and siRNA development capabilities, combined with Insilico’s end-to-end, AI-powered drug discovery platform.

Why AI for siRNA?

By advancing demonstration project rollouts and translation of research achievements, the partnership aims to accelerate siRNA research and development. With this joint innovation combining AI and siRNA, Ribo and Insilico say they hope to address unmet clinical needs.

According to Ribo, siRNA drugs typify the “third wave” of modern pharmaceuticals due to a number of core advantages. These include a broad target spectrum, digital design capability, short development cycles, and high patient compliance. Ribo and Insilico propose that deep integration with AI technology will enhance the efficiency and success of siRNA drug development.

Ultimately, the partnership’s goal is to bring novel therapeutics to patients by facilitating breakthroughs in previously intractable, “undruggable” targets.

Headlining Ribo’s integration of AI technology into its siRNA drug development system is an algorithm-driven intelligent siRNA sequence design platform. Along with a high-efficiency ligand screening platform, this enables rapid identification, iteration, and optimization of high-quality candidate molecules.

Ribo and Insilico Execs Speak

“We are now in a new era of AI-guided clinical R&D,” Li-Ming Gan, Ribo Co-CEO & Global R&D President said. “[Insilico Medicine and Ribo] are very pleased to see our previous successful collaboration grow into this comprehensive strategic cooperation.”

“Insilico and Ribo have maintained close communication and mutual trust,” said Feng Ren, PhD, Co-CEO and CSO of Insilico Medicine. “We will work together to enable end-to-end empowerment, further expand the boundaries of AI empowerment, and strive to meet unmet clinical needs.”