Northstrive Biosciences Inc. has entered into a Development and License Agreement with Yuva Biosciences, Inc. to discover and develop novel pharmaceutical treatments for obesity, type 2 diabetes and other cardiometabolic conditions using YuvaBio’s proprietary, mitochondrial science-focused platform MitoNova, powered by artificial intelligence .
The Agreement provides for the parties’ collaboration on an AI Development Program (“Program” or “AI Development Program”). As part of this Program, YuvaBio will develop mitochondrial science related technology for Northstrive and identify drug candidates with the potential to improve mitochondrial health and cardiometabolic function. YuvaBio will then test its computational findings for biological activity on custom assays. YuvaBio will also grant Northstrive an exclusive, worldwide license to this developed technology to derive therapeutic products for cardiac diseases and obesity. Through this collaboration, the parties aim to integrate new methodologies into mitochondrial biology and discover outputs to expand Northstrive’s cardiometabolic disease pipeline.
The AI Development Program will combine YuvaBio’s proprietary AI platform with laboratory validation to identify and advance novel drug candidates targeting mitochondrial function. The multi-phase collaboration includes in silico modeling, virtual compound screening, and experimental testing to shortlist promising candidates for clinical development.
“Declining mitochondrial function not only accelerates aging but also plays a central role in numerous age-related disorders and other pathologies such as obesity,” said Greg Schmergel, Co-Founder and CEO of Yuva Biosciences. “With this collaboration, we will be leveraging our proprietary AI to discover compounds that are mitochondrial promoters and protectors and verify the findings with experimental wet lab testing.”
YuvaBio’s MitoNova provides an integrated suite of AI-enabled tools that analyze vast datasets and explore compound libraries across multiple dimensions of chemical and bioactivity properties. Leveraging a proprietary mitochondrial database and leading-edge AI models, MitoNova identifies compounds that target the root cause of aging and related conditions at the cellular level. Research teams can then utilize MitoNova to assess key factors such as bioavailability and safety to accelerate the transition from target discovery to biological validation.
“We are believers in leveraging AI to guide our drug development efforts and view mitochondrial health as a foundational pillar,” said Deniel Mero, Co-Founder of Northstrive Biosciences. “YuvaBio is the ideal partner for this collaboration, and we expect it to lead to the identification of several novel targets that may form the basis of differentiated cardiometabolic drug programs.”
In exchange for the rights and license granted to Northstrive under the Agreement, Yuva will receive: (i) an upfront fee upon the parties’ entry into the Agreement and payments made based on initiation and completion of phases in the Program, (ii) certain developmental milestone payments, and (iii) royalties on net sales of certain therapeutic cardiac disease and obesity products from Northstrive (or its affiliates, or sublicensees) which contain the final shortlist of promising compounds that YuvaBio identifies and recommends as a result of the Program.
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