Iktos appoints new Scientific Advisory Board with world-renowned AI and Drug Discovery experts to accelerate the development of novel therapies
Paris (France), 17 October, 2024 – Iktos, a leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics, is revolutionizing drug discovery by addressing inefficiencies in traditional processes. Through the seamless integration of generative design, robotic synthesis, and biological testing into a unified platform, Iktos accelerates the identification and optimization of effective treatments, creating a differentiated path to faster, more reliable ways of delivering life-saving therapies to patients.
To advance this vision, Iktos has appointed a new Scientific Advisory Board comprising five world-renowned experts in AI-driven molecular design, lab automation, computational chemistry, first-in-human drug development, and strategic pipeline management. Their expertise will be instrumental in enhancing the AI-first drug discovery platform, strengthening collaborations, and advancing Iktos’ pipeline towards commercialization.
At the forefront is Rafael Gomez-Bombarelli, MIT professor and pioneer in Generative AI, whose seminal work has been key in the development of AI in Drug Discovery. Thierry Masquelin, the visionary creator of the Lilly Life Science Studio (L2S2) and former automation leader at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, will guide Iktos in advancing its integrated synthesis, purification, and testing robotic platform. Adding further expertise, Friedrich Rippmann, former Director of Computational Chemistry and Biologics at Merck KGaA, will contribute his deep experience in applying computational chemistry methods across the pharmaceutical industry. Laurent Debussche, former VP Oncology Research at Sanofi, adds decades of experience in advancing first-in-human drug candidates to clinical phases. Rounding out the board, Dominique Bridon, executive chairman at Sybilla Therapeutics, will leverage his leadership in reconciling excellence in science and innovation with entrepreneurial successes, including taking Conjuchem public, to support Iktos in maturing and expanding its AI-first drug candidate pipeline.
Yann Gaston-Mathé, co-founder and CEO of Iktos said: “I’m delighted to welcome our new Scientific Advisory Board. These five high-profile experts, each renowned for their expertise in drug discovery and development, will provide invaluable perspectives on the challenges ahead. Their insights will undoubtedly strengthen Iktos’s mission to drive innovation in AI-first drug discovery. »
About Iktos
Iktos is a French scale-up company specializing in artificial intelligence and robotic solutions applied to research in medicinal chemistry and new drug design. Iktos’ proprietary and innovative generative AI solution enables the design of molecules that are optimized in silico to meet all the success criteria of a small molecule discovery project. The use of Iktos technology enables major productivity gains in upstream pharmaceutical R&D. Iktos offers its technology through the SaaS software platforms Makya™ for generative drug design and Spaya™ for retrosynthesis, and through strategic collaborations with pharma companies where Iktos mobilizes its unique platform and leading-edge capabilities to expedite small molecule drug discovery for the benefit of its partners. Iktos has also developed Iktos Robotics, a unique AI-driven synthesis automation platform that dramatically accelerates the Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycle in drug discovery and is developing its own pipeline of drug candidates targeting oncology and auto-immune and inflammatory diseases. In March 2023, Iktos completed a 15.5M€ Series A financing round co-led by M Ventures and Debiopharm Innovation with contribution by Omnes Capital. In July 2024, Iktos announced the acquisition of Synsight, thereby complementing its Chemistry AI platform with a groundbreaking biology platform for the discovery of new drugs targeting Protein-Protein Interactions (PPI) and RNA-Protein Interactions (RPI).
More information at http://www.iktos.ai/
Press contacts
Iktos
Yann Gaston-Mathé (CEO) – contact@iktos.com
Ulysse Communication
Charles Courbet – ccourbet@ulysse-communication.com – +33 (0)6 28 93 03 06
Iva Baytcheva – ibaytcheva@ulysse-communication.com – +33 (0)6 28 59 07 03
