Chai Discovery announced a license agreement that will allow Pfizer to deploy Chai’s AI platform within its drug discovery operations, including early access to the company’s new Chai‑3 model and a custom model built on Pfizer’s proprietary data and workflows. Chai develops generative AI software that predicts and reprograms interactions between molecules, enabling design of biomolecules with defined functional properties.
Under the agreement, Pfizer will be among the first pharmaceutical partners to gain access to Chai‑3, an undisclosed model that the company says improves AI‑driven antibody design compared with its predecessor. Chai‑3 is reported to double the success rate of the earlier model and to generate antibodies that meet required therapeutic standards, including advances in binding capabilities, multi‑specific antibodies, molecules directed at hard‑to‑drug targets and improved generalization.
The update builds on Chai‑2, released in 2025, which Chai described as a zero‑shot antibody design platform that achieved double‑digit experimental hit rates and produced molecules with drug‑like properties. According to the company, that performance represented a 100‑fold improvement over previous computational methods and enabled some discovery efforts to be completed in weeks instead of months.
Chai co‑founder Joshua Meier said the collaboration is intended to put the company’s software directly into Pfizer’s discovery organization, combining Chai’s AI platform with Pfizer’s scientific expertise, data and discovery capabilities to expand biologics discovery and pursue targets that have been difficult to address with traditional approaches. Chai said its agreement with Pfizer reflects broader uptake of advanced AI models by large pharmaceutical companies as such tools move from research into routine use in discovery workflows.
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