Astellas signs potential $400M-plus AI miniprotein deal

Astellas has partnered with Boston-based AI Proteins to discover and develop de novo miniprotein therapies using AI-driven design.

The deal is valued at more than $400 million in potential upfront and milestone payments, plus royalties on sales. The upfront amount was not disclosed.

AI Proteins will design and optimize candidates for multiple undisclosed targets selected by Astellas. Astellas receives exclusive worldwide licenses and will lead development, regulatory work, and commercialization.

The partnership reflects growing pharmaceutical interest in using computational design to create therapeutic proteins from scratch, rather than adapting naturally occurring molecules. The candidates are still at the discovery stage; no specific drugs or clinical results were announced.