The pharmaceutical company will collaborate with AI biotechnology firm insitro, using its Virtual Human platform to identify potential drug targets for complex diseases.
British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has entered into an artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery agreement with US biotechnology firm insitro, valued at up to approximately $1.5 billion, to develop potential treatments for liver and heart diseases.
Announced on October 15, 2026, the collaboration will use insitro's Virtual Human AI platform to identify biological mechanisms associated with complex diseases and support the development of new therapeutic candidates.
Under the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay insitro $40 million upfront. The biotechnology company will also be eligible to receive up to approximately $1.46 billion in additional payments linked to development and commercial milestones, along with royalties on potential future global sales.
The partnership will focus on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), a serious form of fatty liver disease, and cardiomyopathies, a group of conditions affecting the heart muscle.
Both disease categories present challenges for researchers because of their complex biological characteristics and differences in how patients develop and respond to the conditions.
Insitro's Virtual Human platform combines machine learning with biological and genetic datasets to identify potential causes of diseases and discover targets for drug development.
The technology is designed to analyse large volumes of information, including experimental data, to identify biological relationships that may be difficult to establish through conventional research methods.
As part of the collaboration, insitro will apply its platform to investigate disease biology and advance targets nominated by AstraZeneca from early discovery towards the development-candidate stage.
AstraZeneca will hold exclusive worldwide rights to advance selected drug programmes identified through the partnership.
Daphne Koller, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of insitro, said the diseases being targeted are often underdiagnosed and contain biological information that could help researchers better understand their underlying causes.
The collaboration combines insitro's AI-based research capabilities with AstraZeneca's experience in pharmaceutical development, including clinical research, regulatory processes and commercialisation.
The agreement comes as pharmaceutical companies increasingly explore AI applications to improve the identification of drug targets and support research decisions during the early stages of medicine development.
AI-based systems can assist researchers in examining complex biological datasets and prioritising potential therapeutic approaches. However, treatments identified through these methods must still undergo preclinical evaluation, clinical trials and regulatory review before reaching patients.
The agreement's headline value includes payments dependent on future milestones and does not represent an immediate $1.5 billion investment.
For AstraZeneca and insitro, the partnership will focus on applying AI-supported biological research to diseases where identifying suitable therapeutic targets remains a significant challenge.
The companies have not announced a timeline for clinical trials or the commercial availability of medicines resulting from the collaboration.
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