Aizen Therapeutics Announced a Multi-Program Collaboration With a San Diego-Based Public Biotech to Design Oral Peptide Therapeutics Using Its DaX Foundation Model, Providing Aizen With Several Million Dollars in Initial Revenue and Up to $100 Million in Milestones for Each Nominated Target Across Immunology and Neurology Indications; The DaX Platform Has Been Trained on Millions of Uniquely Annotated Molecules and Receptors and Explores the Non-Canonical Amino Acid (ncAA) Peptide Chemical Space at 10x the Scale of Traditional ncAA Discovery Methods, Positioning It as One of the More Substantial AI-Driven Peptide Discovery Platforms Alongside PeptiDream's PDPS System, Isomorphic Labs, and Insilico Medicine's Pharma.AI
Aizen Therapeutics announced a multi-program collaboration with a San Diego-based public biotech to design oral peptide therapeutics using its DaX foundation model. Deal terms: several million dollars in initial revenue plus up to $100 million in milestones for each nominated target. The collaboration will develop proof of activity with the DaX platform for well-known disease-relevant targets in immunology and neurology indications, with the potential to expand the roster of targets over time. The DaX platform has been trained on millions of uniquely annotated molecules and receptors and explores the non-canonical amino acid (ncAA) peptide chemical space at 10x the scale of traditional ncAA discovery methods. Non-canonical amino acids extend beyond the standard 20 natural amino acids to include modified building blocks that give peptides properties (metabolic stability, membrane permeability, oral bioavailability) that natural peptides do not have; this is essential for the oral peptide therapeutics that the collaboration targets. DaX positions Aizen as one of the more substantial AI-driven peptide discovery platforms alongside PeptiDream's PDPS system (Kawasaki-based, constrained cyclic peptide focus with active collaborations across Novartis, Merck, Genentech, AbbVie, and Eli Lilly), Isomorphic Labs (Google DeepMind spinout with AlphaFold-derived structural modeling), and Insilico Medicine's Pharma.AI (which has secured over $5 billion in partnership deal value across 2026). The collaboration adds to the growing evidence that AI-designed peptides are becoming a distinct drug discovery category with real deal-flow.