AstraZeneca said it partnered with insitro, a California-based AI drug discovery startup, on October 15 to find and develop treatments for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, and cardiomyopathies.

Insitro will use machine learning and lab-grown cell models to identify the diseases’ underlying biology and advance targets selected by AstraZeneca to the development-candidate stage. AstraZeneca will then fund and run future clinical trials.

AstraZeneca will pay insitro US$40 million upfront. The startup could also receive up to about US$1.46 billion in development and commercial milestone payments, plus single-digit percentage royalties on future sales.

The agreement adds to insitro’s existing partnerships with Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly. It also comes after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a treatment for MASH in 2024.

🔗 Source: Reuters

Recent AstraZeneca developments