Pharma giant Pfizer has inked a deal with CytoReason to use the Tel Aviv-based drug discovery and development company’s cell-centered models of the immune system.
CytoReason’s machine learning technology can rebuild lost cellular information from gene expression data and associate genes to specific cells. In turn, that information is integrated with other data to create a cell-based model of the trial-specific immune response.
Although financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, CytoReason expects to receive payments from Pfizer that could reach into “low double-digit millions” of U.S. dollars.
“This will be our fifth major partnership, which we believe will help make our model unparalleled in its accuracy for assets across the pipeline,” David Harel, CytoReason’s chief executive, said in a statement (PDF). “CytoReason’s model brings together thousands of samples on a cell-protein-gene level, allowing for fast and accurate insights.”
So far, the company has two pending patents, 10 commercial and scientific collaborations and 16 peer-reviewed publications. Its technology can target cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases.