British Artificial Intelligence Firm Seals Drug-Development Deal with Janssen

BenevolentAI, a British artificial intelligence (AI) company, announced that it has signed an exclusive license for a series of novel clinical-stage drug candidates with Janssen Pharmaceutica NV, which is one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. The agreement was facilitated by the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Center in London, United Kingdom.

BenevolentAI’s aim is to bring innovation to the drug development process by using AI technology to help provide the best treatments to the right patients. The firm has acquired a license to a number of novel clinical-stage drug candidates and their related portfolio of   patents.  Scientists at BenevolentAI evaluated the potential of these small-molecule drugs using AI technology and the findings indicate strong potential of these new medicines for hard-to-treat diseases.

Under the terms of the license agreement, BenevolentAI will have the sole right to develop, manufacture, and commercialize these novel drug candidates in all indications and in all territories. BenevolentAI will be able to accelerate its development pipeline, using its AI technology to explore opportunities and gather clinical data. Late-stage Phase IIb clinical trials are expected to begin in mid 2017. No financial terms were disclosed.