Takeda commits over US$1B in potential payments to Nabla Bio for AI drug discovery

USA—Nabla Bio and Takeda have announced a new multi-year research partnership aimed at advancing the design of protein therapeutics using artificial intelligence.

Under this collaboration, Nabla Bio will receive an upfront payment and ongoing research funding, along with the potential to earn more than $1 billion in success-based payments.

 This marks the second time the two companies have joined forces on such a project.

The new agreement focuses on applying Nabla Bio’s Joint Atomic Model (JAM), a biomolecular design platform, to Takeda’s early-stage development programs.

The partnership will particularly emphasize the de novo design of antibodies for complex targets, innovative multispecific antibodies, and other customized therapeutic proteins.

Surge Biswas, CEO and co-founder of Nabla Bio, said that since 2022, the company has worked with Takeda to explore the cutting edge of biologics discovery.

 She explained that this second collaboration builds on the success of their initial project and reflects their shared belief that AI-driven design and optimization—especially when powered by advanced models like JAM—can open new therapeutic possibilities and speed up drug development beyond previous limits.

JAM has demonstrated high success rates in designing new proteins across various targets, including generating picomolar binders for G protein-coupled receptors without prior exposure.

Nabla’s AI-created drug candidates show promising preclinical features such as low immunogenicity, favorable pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics, and effective functionality in non-human primate studies.

Chris Arendt, Takeda’s chief scientific officer and head of research, highlighted the company’s commitment to accelerating drug development through the latest AI technologies.

He noted that building on their first successful collaboration, this renewed partnership will leverage Nabla Bio’s AI platform and wet lab capabilities to design and improve protein therapeutics targeting multiple disease areas.

Industry observers point out that AI-based design is becoming increasingly important in biopharmaceutical research, enabling companies like Nabla Bio and Takeda to innovate faster while reducing costly trial-and-error approaches.

This collaboration exemplifies the growing trend of integrating computational techniques with traditional lab work to create sophisticated medical treatments.

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