Achievement marks advancement of novel obesity target identified through Convergence™ AI platform
Fauna Bio, a biotechnology company pioneering the use of extreme mammal biology and comparative genomics to discover novel therapeutic targets, today announced the designation of a target under its strategic obesity discovery collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), initiated in December, 2023.
The designated target, identified using Fauna Bio’s proprietary Convergence™ AI platform, represents a potential first-in-class approach to treating obesity by leveraging insights from hibernating mammals that naturally regulate body weight and metabolism. This milestone triggers a payment to Fauna Bio under the terms of the collaboration agreement,.
“This target designation validates the power of our Convergence™ platform to identify truly novel biology in metabolic disease,” said Ashley Zehnder, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Fauna Bio. “By studying how hibernating mammals achieve remarkable feats of metabolic regulation—including dramatic, healthy weight cycling—we are uncovering therapeutic targets that have eluded traditional discovery approaches.”
The Convergence™ AI platform analyzes genomic data from over 450 mammal species, including more than 60 hibernators, integrating this comparative biology with human patient data to identify disease-relevant targets. The platform’s proprietary Graph Neural Network enables rapid evaluation and prioritization of novel targets across multiple therapeutic modalities.
“We are pleased to advance this collaboration into its next phase,” continued Zehnder. “This achievement reflects the deep scientific expertise of both teams and reinforces the value of our unique approach to drug discovery.”
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