Syntekabio bets $3.1 mil. on US biotech to turn gut bugs into AI-driven immune meds

Syntekabio is making a $3.1 million wager that AI can turn bacterial leftovers into oral therapies for immune diseases.

The Korean biotech on Sunday inked a deal with San Francisco-based Pragma Biosciences to co-develop drug candidates sourced from gut microbiota. Pragma, which mines microbiome-based therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases, provides the compounds; Syntekabio handles the algorithmic optimization.

The work will run through DeepMatcher, Syntekabio’s cloud-based AI platform designed to optimize and expand small molecule libraries.

While the immediate focus is inflammatory bowel disease, Syntekabio said the compounds could ultimately be developed into oral therapies for a broader set of immune disorders.

The 26-month contract covers five stages, from target screening to preclinical animal studies. Each milestone unlocks the next payment—and if Pragma misses the 12-month window to settle, Syntekabio can claim rights under a pre-negotiated IP-sharing policy, according to a Monday filing.

For Syntekabio, the deal marks a shift from its usual pharma tie-ups toward deeper collaboration with tech-native biotechs.

Pragma, for its part, is still riding the momentum of a $10 million raise in 2023 backed by Merck’s Global Health Innovation Fund, Viking Global, and CJ Investments. Its Lattice engine sifts through interactions between natural compounds and human cells, aiming to identify drug candidates overlooked by conventional screening.

Source : https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=27024