iBio, Inc. (NYSE: IBIO) shares are experiencing a substantial surge of 127.83% this morning on the US stock market. At the latest check during the current session, IBIO shares were trading up at $2.62. This uptick in IBIO shares follows the announcement of a groundbreaking collaboration in AI-driven drug discovery.
Today, iBio Inc. (IBIO) has disclosed its collaboration agreement with AstralBio, Inc. This collaboration aims to discover, engineer, and develop innovative antibodies targeting obesity and other cardiometabolic disorders.
The objective of this transformative partnership is to swiftly establish an exceptional cardiometabolic disease portfolio by leveraging iBio’s proficiency in creating antibodies for challenging targets, combined with AstralBio’s extensive experience in biologics and drug development.
Under this agreement, iBio has exclusively licensed its AI-powered technology to identify and engineer four targets for treating cardiometabolic diseases, with AstralBio responsible for advancing candidates through pre-clinical development to Investigational New Drug (IND) application stage.
Additionally, iBio holds the exclusive option to license three cardiometabolic targets from AstralBio, with rights for development, manufacturing, and commercialization upon exercising this option.
Consequently, iBio and AstralBio are commencing the development of a lead program targeting the transforming growth factor beta (TGFb) superfamily for addressing muscle wasting and obesity.
The collaboration may also be expanded to include further targets in various fields by mutual agreement. IBIO expresses confidence in the potential of AI-enabled technology to develop antibodies against challenging targets in the cardiometabolic domain.
The company envisions the future of treating millions affected by obesity and cardiometabolic diseases globally through next-generation therapies that improve both efficacy and tolerability profiles compared to current treatments.
Notably, the lead program targeting the TGFb superfamily aims to achieve a best-in-class profile. IBIO anticipates announcing additional novel targets promising similarly transformative outcomes in the coming months.
Furthermore, in an equity transaction, IBIO yesterday concluded a $15 million private placement financing with ADAR1 Capital Management, Lynx1 Capital Management, Ikarian Capital, and other institutional investors.
A portion of the net proceeds will be allocated to supporting new partnerships, such as the collaboration with AstralBio.
