AstraZeneca selects two more lung, kidney disease targets under BenevolentAI pact
Roland Magnusson/iStock Editorial via Getty Images


U.K.-based BenevolentAI said it will get two milestone payments as AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) selected two additional targets to enter its portfolio for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
The collaboration between the two companies, which began in 2019, combines BenevolentAI's proprietary AI-enabled drug discovery platform called Benevolent Platform, with AstraZeneca's disease expertise to identify novel targets.

So far the partnership has delivered five novel targets to AstraZeneca, two for CKD and three for IPF, BenevolentAI said in an Oct. 6 press release.
IPF is a type of lung disease.
In January this year, the collaboration was expanded for another three years into two new disease areas â heart failure and systemic lupus erythematosus.
"Our ongoing collaboration with BenevolentAI is helping us to uncover novel rare variants of complex diseases, such as IPF and CKD. By combining the power of AI with human expertise we are bringing new drug targets into our portfolio," Mene Pangalos, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca.
AZN -0.39% to $56.51 premarket Oct. 6