Pharmaceutical Business review

RevolKa signs deal with Daiichi Sankyo for functional proteins

RevolKa will deliver advanced proteins using AI technology under the new agreement. Credit: Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay.

Under the terms of the agreement, RevolKa will utilise its protein engineering platform, aiProtein, integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), to create and deliver highly functional proteins.

The companies did not disclose the financial details of the deal.

aiProtein is an AI-powered method for the directed evolution of proteins.

Proteins, which are naturally occurring polymers of amino acids, fold into complex tertiary structures to exhibit biological functions.

Despite proteins having evolved over millions of years, the relationship between their sequence, structure, and function is not fully understood, making the rational design of proteins for specific functions challenging.

RevolKa’s AI engine leverages sequence-function relationship data to predict sequences for evolved protein functions.

Moreover, aiProtein has the capability to evolve more than two functions at the same time, making it a potent and cost-efficient tool for developing novel proteins for pharmaceutical and industrial applications.

In April this year, RevolKa signed a research collaboration with La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) to develop antigens for next-generation vaccines, addressing unmet medical needs in infectious diseases.

This partnership combines LJI’s expertise in immunology with RevolKa’s AI-driven protein engineering capabilities.

In February, RevolKa secured Y150m ($1m) in Series A extension financing round to develop a pipeline of next-generation therapeutic and molecules using its aiProtein technology.