PR96169

NEW YORK, May 25, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-Insilico's candidate demonstrated a favorable profile with good in vivo

efficacy at low doses, efficient synthesis, and no need for co-administration

with Ritonavir.

-The candidate is intended to be used for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and its

variants, along with other coronaviruses.

-Insilico's candidate has a novel structure that can be synthesized

efficiently, designed by its propriety AI-driven small molecule generation

platform, Chemistry42.

Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage end-to-end artificial intelligence

(AI)-driven drug discovery company, today announced its nomination of a novel

preclinical candidate (PCC) targeting 3C-like (3CL) protease for the treatment

of COVID-19.

Insilico's PCC is an orally available 3CL protease inhibitor with a novel

structure generated using Insilico's AI platform. The compound can be

efficiently prepared with a two-step synthesis from commercial starting

materials. In preclinical studies, it demonstrated a favorable profile with

good in vivo efficacy at low doses and its observed efficacy is independent of

co-administration with CYP3A4/Pgp inhibitor (e.g. Ritonavir). It also showed

broad-spectrum antiviral activities, not only for SARS-CoV-2 and its variants,

but also for other types of coronaviruses that cause diseases including severe

acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

"This molecule designed by AI has distinct pharmacophores from existing 3CL

protease inhibitors and binds to the target protein in a unique, irreversible,

covalent binding mode as demonstrated by a co-crystal structure," said Feng

Ren, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Insilico Medicine. "We are committed to

progress the molecule as fast as possible into clinical trials evaluating its

usage in COVID-19 treatment."

Insilico initially trained its end-to-end AI platform to combat the pandemic

early in the outbreak based on knowledge of the virus' structure and properties

developed from the SARS outbreak in 2003. Empowered by its AI platform, the

company narrowed and identified the 3CL target in early 2020 and then published

its first set of novel compound structures designed using its small molecule

generation platform Chemistry42 in February 2020.

"The COVID-19 pandemic brought global attention to the pressing need for rapid

drug development," said Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Insilico

Medicine. "We made an executive decision to start our COVID-19 program early.

We were mobilized along with the rest of the scientific community and were able

to demonstrate how powerful AI tools can be in the fight against the disease."

The epidemic caused by the Novel Coronavirus has had a significant impact on

human health and economic development and has brought severe challenges to

global public health security. Insilico's R&D team has initiated

investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies for the PCC to accelerate its

progression to a clinical asset.

Since 2021, Insilico has nominated 7 preclinical candidates discovered and

designed using its AI platform in a variety of disease areas, including

fibrosis, inflammation, and cancer. It also successfully completed a Phase 0

microdose trial and entered a Phase I clinical trial with its first internally

developed program for fibrosis.

About Insilico Medicine

Insilico Medicine, a clinical stage end-to-end artificial intelligence

(AI)-driven drug discovery company, is connecting biology, chemistry, and

clinical trials analysis using next-generation AI systems. The company has

developed AI platforms that utilize deep generative models, reinforcement

learning, transformers, and other modern machine learning techniques to

discover novel targets and to design novel molecular structures with desired

properties. Insilico Medicine is delivering breakthrough solutions to discover

and develop innovative drugs for cancer, fibrosis, immunity, central nervous

system (CNS) diseases and aging-related diseases.

For more information, visit www.insilico.com .

For media inquiries, please contact media@insilicomedicine.com.

Source: Insilico Medicine

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