On September 11, 2019 Atomwise Inc., a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery, and Atropos Therapeutics, Inc., a senescence platform discovery company, reported that they will launch a joint venture company to discover and advance a pipeline of compounds for promising discovery targets for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Atomwise, SEP 11, 2019, View Source [SID1234539429]).

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Cellular senescence is a regulated biological process by which cells stop dividing irreversibly and is a normal part of aging. However, the failure and induction of senescence also have an important role in the development and treatment of cancers, respectively. Compounds that modulate senescence have enormous potential as novel anticancer agents. Atropos and Atomwise will use their platform technologies and complementary capabilities to perform screens to identify and develop novel compounds for undisclosed targets that modulate cellular senescence and evaluate their potential for development as safe and effective drugs for the treatment of cancer.

"We are excited to be embarking on this joint enterprise with Atomwise. We value the innovation that the two respective teams bring and look forward to working together toward new and better therapies for cancer patients," said Tommy Nguyen, M.D., Ph.D. CEO and Co-Founder of Atropos.

"This partnership with Atropos is an opportunity to ultimately provide patients with a fundamentally different class of drugs," said Abraham Heifets, Ph.D. CEO and Co-Founder of Atomwise. "We are excited to apply our technology to targets that are considered to be intractable and advance the discovery and development of drugs that modulate cellular senescence to treat cancer."

Under the terms of the agreement, the joint venture company will have access to Atropos’ and Atomwise’s cutting-edge technology and expertise in aging, cancer biology, computational and medicinal chemistry, and artificial intelligence for drug discovery.