GSK Expands Chai Deal After Wet-Lab Validation of AI Designs

What happened

Chai Discovery announced on October 9, via Business Wire, an expanded collaboration with GSK. GSK will gain access to Chai's platform, including its protein folding and design models, to support discovery work across GSK's pipeline.

The deal rests on a completed evaluation: Chai's models generated designs for GSK targets with no target-specific training (zero-shot), and GSK's internal wet-lab testing of those designs found binders for all tested targets. Christopher Austin, GSK's SVP of R&D Technologies, said in a statement that the models were evaluated across a diverse panel of targets and produced designs with strong binding affinities.

Chai's latest model is Chai-3. According to Fierce Biotech, its previous model Chai-2 reported a 16% hit rate in fully de novo antibody design in a preprint. Chai has raised a $400 million Series C and previously signed deals with Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer; GSK is another large drugmaker on that list.

Key facts

1. The deal: : GSK gains access to Chai's platform (protein folding and design models) for discovery across its pipeline.
2. Evaluation: : models generated designs zero-shot; GSK wet-lab tests found binders for every target tested.
3. Background: : Chai has raised a $400M Series C; its latest model is Chai-3; Chai-2's preprint reported a 16% de novo antibody design hit rate.
4. Existing partners: : Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Novartis and Pfizer, with GSK newly added.