VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: RKV) a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new cancer therapies based on novel DNA-damage response technologies and Variational AI, developer of the Enki™ generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for drug discovery, announced today a research collaboration aimed at leveraging each company’s expertise to identify and develop novel small-molecule therapies against DNA-damage response (DDR) targets for the treatment of cancer.

Under the terms of the agreement Rakovina Therapeutics has been granted an exclusive right to compounds generated by the Enki™ platform against the selected target product profiles and an option to license validated drug candidates for further development. Variational AI will employ the Enki^TM platform to identify novel inhibitors of specific DDR kinase targets selected by Rakovina Therapeutics. Rakovina Therapeutics will synthesize and evaluate the viability of these drug candidates as potential cancer therapies in its laboratories at the University of British Columbia.  

According to Rakovina Therapeutics Executive Chairman Jeffrey Bacha, “This collaboration is an ideal addition to our already established Deep Docking AI partnership as it expands Rakovina Therapeutics’ pipeline beyond our current focus of developing next-generation PARP inhibitors.”

“Leveraging Variational AI’s expertise in kinases where it overlaps with our DDR interest will significantly increase partnering opportunities as ‘big pharma’ maintains a close interest on novel therapies against these targets,” added Bacha.

Rakovina Therapeutics will pay a low upfront fee to initiate work against each selected target and a “TPP Fee” upon exercise of its option to acquire rights to drug candidates meeting a pre-specified target-product profile (TPP) and additional payments upon achievement of specified development milestones. Additional financial terms were not disclosed.

According to Variational AI CEO Handol Kim, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Rakovina Therapeutics in their quest for lifesaving, cancer drugs. Variational AI is at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence drug discovery and we look towards a successful and lasting partnership. Our unique Enki™ Platform is the first commercially accessible foundation model for small molecules and represents an ideal drug discovery solution for Rakovina Therapeutics for these initial targets and beyond.”

Bacha said, “Variational AI will deliver a short list of potential drug candidates within four to six weeks of target selection. We anticipate determining the validity of these novel drug candidates against our target-product profile within 12 to 18 months upon receipt of each Variational AI deliverable.”

“We are excited about the potential of this collaboration. The Enki™ AI platform, already used by leading pharmaceutical companies, brings a powerful addition to our AI-driven drug discovery toolkit as we expand our research focus to additional DDR targets," Bacha added.

About Variational AI

Variational AI has developed Enki™, the first commercially available foundation model for small molecules to enable biopharmaceutical companies to discover novel, potent, safe, and synthesizable lead compounds for a small fraction of the time and cost versus traditional chemistry approaches. To learn more, visit: www.variational.ai.

About Rakovina Therapeutics Inc.

Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. is focused on the development of new cancer treatments based on novel DNA-damage response technologies. The Company has established a pipeline of novel DNA-damage response inhibitors with the goal of advancing one or more drug candidates into human clinical trials and obtaining marketing approval for new cancer therapeutics from Health Canada, the United States Food and Drug Administration, and similar international regulatory agencies. Further information may be found at www.rakovinatherapeutics.com

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