SAN DIEGO & SHANGHAI, December 03, 2020 — BioDuro LLC, a leading global life sciences contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO), and Silexon, a cutting-edge AI-empowered biotechnology company using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to facilitate drug discovery and biopharma research, have jointly announced a strategic cooperation to develop and integrate AI models into drug discovery workflow to better enable innovative drug research and development by combining capabilities and strengths from both parties.

The cooperation between Silexon and BioDuro is centered around the discovery and design of new small molecule drugs for cancer. Based on Bioduro’s one-stop CRDMO platform with expertise including but not limited to chemical synthesis, in vitro assay, DMPK, ADMET and etc., AI models will be developed and leveraged to identify novel targets, obtain drug candidates through virtual high-throughput screening, and explore repurposing opportunities for existing drugs..All in all, Silexon and BioDuro will work together to utilize AI to discover FIC and BIC drug candidates with better safety/efficacy profile in a more efficient and successful manner.

"We are combining the best of both worlds—cutting-edge artificial intelligence & fully integrated drug discovery R&D," said Hainian Zeng, CEO of Silexon. "The team at Silexon are world-class experts in AI-based drug discovery and design. By combining our technology with BioDuro’s streamlined drug discovery R&D process, we expect to create a highly successful model for developing new drug candidates with excellent efficacy and safety profile."

"Our collaboration is aimed to save time and resources to create life-saving drugs," said Dr. TJ Deng, CEO of BioDuro China. "The drug discovery process needs to be accelerated and made more efficient, especially for cancer. Our collaboration brings together a world-class veteran scientific research team, together with industry-leading technology to do exactly that."

BioDuro, an Advent International portfolio company, is a leading global life sciences research and development organization that provides biopharmaceutical clients and partners with comprehensive, fully integrated drug discovery and development services, from lead development and IND-enabling studies to GMP manufacture of drug product for clinical trials. Core expertise includes small and large molecule discovery, development and scale up, combined with unique technology platforms such as bioavailability enhancement of insoluble compounds. The company has 4 global sites: headquarters in San Diego, California and 3 major operations in Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu, China. BioDuro’s integrated China and US teams afford partners with the benefits of a truly global and seamless operation, significantly accelerating discovery and de-risking development to create higher value outcomes.

In September 2020, BioDuro announced its partnership with Sundia, a leading drug discovery contract research and manufacturing organization, to create BioDuro-Sundia as the third largest CRDMO (contract research, development and manufacturing organizations) with major operations in China and the US—featuring more than 2,000 employees and 10 global sites. The two companies expect to launch as a single integrated company in Q1 2021.

For more information, visit: www.bioduro.com

SOURCE: BioDuro