Immunai, a biotechnology company using artificial intelligence to map the human immune system, said Thursday it has signed an agreement with AstraZeneca to develop a therapeutic target for inflammatory bowel disease.
The deal expands the companies’ existing collaboration beyond oncology and is valued at up to $85 million. AstraZeneca will gain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize treatments directed at the new IBD target, which was discovered using Immunai’s proprietary Immunodynamics Engine, or IDE, built on its immune cell atlas known as AMICA.
Immunai will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments totaling up to $85 million.
The company said its IDE platform integrates clinically annotated single-cell multi-omics datasets with machine learning to model immune function and dysfunction across a range of diseases, including cancer, autoimmune conditions and inflammatory disorders.
“Target discovery has always been a challenging process, especially in complex immune diseases like IBD,” said Immunai CEO and co-founder Noam Solomon. “Using an unbiased approach powered by AI and machine learning, Immunai’s platform has identified an exciting novel target for IBD. This remains a debilitating condition for millions, and despite existing therapies, many patients continue to face uncontrolled symptoms, hospitalizations, and progressive complications.
"This agreement marks a turning point. By modeling the immune system with high-resolution single-cell data and artificial intelligence, we’re not only finding new targets, we’re beginning to understand why they matter. We’re proud to expand our collaboration with AstraZeneca as we work together to discover and develop new therapies."
The announcement builds on a partnership that began in 2022. In 2024, AstraZeneca committed $18 million to use Immunai’s platform and machine learning tools to inform oncology clinical trials, including decisions on dose selection, mechanism-of-action studies, and biomarker discovery.
Founded in 2018, Immunai has raised nearly $270 million and employs 185 people, including 85 PhDs or MDs. The company is headquartered in New York, with offices in Tel Aviv, Zurich and Prague, and maintains partnerships with more than 30 pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions.