AI-Driven Biopharmaceutical R&D Company Development Directions
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Biopharmaceutical raw materials primarily consist of natural biological materials, including microorganisms, humans, animals, plants, and marine organisms. With advancements in biotechnology, purposefully engineered biological materials have become a major source of current biopharmaceutical raw materials, such as animal-derived materials obtained through immunological methods or microbial/cellular materials with modified genetic structures.
2023 Biopharmaceutical Growth Trends and Future Directions
Recently, Nature's biopharmaceutical business newsletter published an article titled Understanding the company landscape in AI-driven biopharma R&D, which discusses the growth trends and future directions of AI-driven biopharmaceutical R&D companies in recent years.
The progress of artificial intelligence (AI), coupled with the greater availability of biomedical data, is revolutionizing drug discovery and development. Initially focused on areas such as small-molecule drug design and target identification through literature analysis, AI tools are now being developed for all stages of the R&D pipeline and across multiple therapeutic modalities. Breakthroughs like AlphaFold2 in protein structure prediction have added new momentum to the field, while advancements in foundational models are unlocking new possibilities across data domains, including images, text, omics, and chemistry.
As a result, AI-based tools are currently regarded by the biopharmaceutical industry as one of the key 'engines' for discovering and developing innovative drugs. Large biopharmaceutical companies are building AI capabilities through three parallel approaches.
First, major biopharmaceutical firms are establishing in-house AI expertise, including through collaborations with information technology companies. For example, in 2019, pharmaceutical giant Novartis and tech giant Microsoft announced a multi-year partnership to leverage Novartis' datasets and Microsoft's AI tools for discovering, developing, and commercializing new drugs. They also established an AI innovation lab to support researchers across Novartis.
Secondly, acquiring AI-driven biotech companies has become a fast track for gaining AI capabilities, typically targeting firms specializing in AI tools and datasets for specific aspects of drug development. For instance, pharmaceutical giant Roche acquired Prescient Design in 2021 (a startup using generative models for antibody design), while BioNTech recently announced a £362 million upfront acquisition of InstaDeep (a company specializing in protein design through deep learning and reinforcement learning). These transactions typically provide biopharma companies with experienced personnel in bioinformatics, data science, and engineering, along with access to proprietary databases.
Thirdly, biopharmaceutical companies are establishing partnerships with AI-driven biotech firms to identify and co-develop drug candidates. The highest-value deal in recent years was the December 2021 collaboration between Recursion and Genentech/Roche, utilizing Recursion's AI-powered high-throughput screening platform to identify new targets and drugs in neuroscience and oncology. Recursion received $150 million upfront, with potential milestone payments of $300 million per project for up to 40 research programs, potentially totaling $12 billion. In January 2022, Exscientia struck another major deal with Sanofi, leveraging its AI-powered precision medicine platform to develop up to 15 drug candidates in oncology and immunology. Exscientia secured $100 million upfront, with potential milestone payments reaching $5.2 billion.
The Landscape of AI-Driven Biotech Companies
AI-driven biotech companies are clearly taking a prominent position in the application of AI across the industry.
China Biologic Products has entered into a collaboration agreement with Hongyun Huaning (Hangzhou) Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hongyun Huaning) to jointly develop the dual-target weight-loss innovative drug GMA106. Hongyun Huaning will receive up to $57 million (approximately RMB 408 million) in upfront and milestone payments from the deal, while China Biologic Products will obtain exclusive development and commercialization rights for GMA106 in Greater China.
China Biologic Products stated that the introduced GMA106 is a GIPR (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor) antagonist/GLP-1R (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor) agonist.
Regarding efficacy, China Biopharmaceuticals stated that the latest Phase 1 clinical data for AMG133 - which shares the same target and mechanism of action as GMA106 - showed the high-dose AMG133 group achieved 14.52% weight reduction at 12 weeks. This outperformed the 6% weight loss seen with semaglutide 2.4mg treatment over the same period, and approached the 16.0% weight reduction achieved after 72 weeks in Eli Lilly's tirzepatide 5mg group.
Tianyancha records show that Hongyun Huaning was established in 2010 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, as a company primarily engaged in research and experimental development.
Regarding GMA106, the subject of this collaboration with China Biopharmaceuticals, Hongyun Huaning states on its official website that GMA106's indications primarily target obesity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and diabetes. The project initiated Phase 1 clinical trials in Australia in November 2021. In March 2022, it received implicit clinical trial approval from China's National Medical Products Administration for trials in China. On November 24, 2022, GMA106 completed first dosing for all subjects in the first dose group of its Phase Ib clinical study in Australia.
The market space for GLP-1 drugs in diabetic patients is expected to exceed 25 billion RMB, while the market for obesity treatment applications is projected to surpass 20 billion RMB.
According to the Global Obesity Drug Competitive Landscape Analysis Report from Dingxiangyuan Insight Database, there are currently 27 clinical research projects targeting GLP-1-based obesity treatments. The pharmacological types are predominantly peptides, with additional categories under development, including antibody fusion proteins, monospecific antibodies, and small-molecule chemical drugs. While no obesity-specific drugs targeting this mechanism have been approved in China, multiple companies are actively developing such therapies, indicating a highly competitive landscape.
Beyond single-target GLP-1 drugs, dual- and multi-target drugs based on GLP-1R are gaining traction in glucose control and weight loss. Guojin Securities analysis highlights that most global multi-target agonists in development focus on GLP-1R/GIPR and GLP-1R/GCGR combinations. Notably, Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (GLP-1R/GIPR) has already received FDA approval. Meanwhile, GLP-1R/GIPR/GCGR triple-target agonists may demonstrate even stronger efficacy, with Eli Lilly and Hanmi Pharmaceutical advancing their candidates to Phase II clinical trials.
Regarding future sales plans, China Biopharmaceuticals stated that for the GLP-1 target, the clinical application for Semaglutide Injection submitted by Zhengda Tianqing on June 7 has been accepted by the CDE. Additionally, one Liraglutide Injection has already been submitted for marketing approval. The sales peak for the newly introduced GMA106, upon successful launch in China, is expected to exceed 2 billion yuan.