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Singleron partnered with XtalPi, launching AI Drug Discovery Collaboration

Camebridge, MS, USA; Beijing &Nanjing, China. March 2021

Singleron Biotechnologies, an innovative single-cell analysis solution provider, recently announced a drug discovery partnership with XtalPi Inc., an AI-powered pharmaceutical technology company. Under the agreement, the two companies will combine Singleron’s single-cell-based target discovery techniques with the drug discovery advantage of XtalPi’s AI platform to discover and develop novel targeted therapies for some of the most common cancers in Asia.

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers, including esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers, are among the leading causes of cancer deaths in Asia, whose early detection and diagnosis remain challenging. In recent years, targeted molecular therapy has become an increasingly popular treatment option combined with traditional methods, such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. However, viable targets and targeted drug therapy for GI cancers remain highly limited despite growing research interest, and the patients’ need for effective medicine.

In this partnership, Singleron will utilize its high-throughput single-cell sequencing and drug target screening platforms to assess and recommend potential therapeutic targets for GI cancers. XtalPi’s AI Research Center will use its in silico platform to discover and design molecules and propose pre-clinical candidates (PCCs). In their concerted effort to bring more personalized cancer medicines to patients faster, XtalPi and Singleron will simultaneously conduct target validation and drug discovery, pursuing multiple promising targets and research paths in parallel. This will boost the efficiency and success rate of novel targeted therapies, while lowering their costs.

Singleron drug target screening platforms consist of the high-throughput single-cell sequencing platform GEXSCOPE®ï¸, the research-to-clinical database SynEcoSys®, and the drug target screening pipeline SingleTron®, tackling the bottleneck procedures in the research and development of targeted drugs. GEXSCOPE®ï¸ produces high-quality single-cell sequencing data, leading to precise annotation and characterization of cancer cell transcriptomics. SynEcoSysTM associates single-cell datasets with clinical records, supporting drug target discovery and validation with real world patient conditions. The SingleTronTM pipeline generates reliable evaluation of predicted drug targets and has been validated in drug target discovery and drug repurposing of cancer types other than GI cancers. Singleron drug target screening technology has boosted the acquisition of PCCs for pharmaceutical companies along with reduced time and cost.

In this pilot program, XtalPi will use its AI-powered drug discovery platform to generate a spectrum of million of chemical compounds with drug-like features to primary and secondary targets recommended by Singleron. Using its physics and AI-based prediction models to screen for molecules with ideal bioactivity, selectivity, and other important physicochemical drug properties, XtalPi will narrow its search down to a handful of promising candidates for experimental validation. XtalPi’s Intelligent Digital Drug Discovery and Development (ID4) platform has served in the discovery and design of over 30 pipeline drugs, the most advanced of which are in pre-clinical development. In existing collaborations, ID4 has reduced the research time from target identification to PCC by months up to a year, saving as much as 90% of the experiment needs.

Dr. Nan Fang, Founder and CEO of Singleron Biotechnologies

Dr. Nan Fang, founder and CEO of Singleron Biotechnologies, said, “Personalized diagnosis and treatments are the future of cancer therapeutics. Singleron Biotechnologies is committed to advancing the precise screening and effective validation of drug targets, using our proprietary high-throughput single-cell sequencing and drug screening platforms. Alliance with XtalPi combines the leading-edge technologies of single-cell sequencing and AI drug discovery algorithms to accelerate the development of targeted therapies for cancer types affecting a large number of Asian patients. We expect this joint effort to bring better solutions to the treatment of cancers.”

Dr. Lipeng Lai, Co-Founder of XtalPi Inc., Head of XtalPi AI Research Center

“In teaming up with target discovery companies like Singleron, we hope to accelerate the translation of new targets into new drug candidates, and further exploit AI’s potential in driving pipeline expansion and advancement while reducing costs,” said Dr. Lipeng Lai, co-founder of XtalPi and head of the XtalPi AI Research Center. “Through this partnership, we hope to develop a diverse portfolio of much-needed first and second-line GI cancer therapies and deliver more safe and effective treatment options to global patients as quickly as possible.”

About Singleron

Singleron Biotechnologies is an innovative molecular diagnostic company dedicated to applying groundbreaking single-cell analysis techniques in clinical diagnosis, drug development, and health management. The company was incorporated in January 2018 and currently has offices, laboratories, and manufacturing facilities in Nanjing and Suzhou in China, as well as Connecticut in the US and Cologne in Germany. Singleron’s product portfolio consists of Singleron Matrix®, an automated single-cell processing and sequencing library construction platform; GEXSCOPE® microfluidic chip and reagent kit including Tissue Preservation Solution and Tissue Dissociation Master Mix; CeleScope® analysis pipeline for massively parallel single-cell RNA-seq data; and SynEcoSys®, a single-cell database combining genomic and cellular information. Singleron thrives to provide cutting-edge single-cell analysis solutions and accelerate the application of innovative single-cell technologies in clinical research, diagnosis, and drug development through rapid responses to market and customer needs in the fast-growing single-cell analysis market.

About XtalPi Inc.

XtalPi is a pharmaceutical technology company that is reinventing the industry’s approach to drug research and development with its Intelligent Digital Drug Discovery and Development (ID4) platform. With tightly interwoven quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and high-performance cloud computing algorithms, XtalPi’s ID4 platform provides accurate predictions on the physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties of small-molecule candidates for drug design, solid-form selection, and other critical aspects of drug development. XtalPi is dedicated to improving the efficiency, accuracy, and success rate of drug research and development, and contributing to a healthier society worldwide.

Founded in 2014 by a group of quantum physicists at MIT, XtalPi has since built an elite team with multi-disciplinary expertise in physics, chemistry, pharmaceutical R&D, and algorithm design. XtalPi’s cutting-edge technologies, innovative solutions, and diverse applications across the pharmaceutical value chain have helped it gain industry approval and establish strategic partnerships with top international pharmaceutical companies.

For more info, visit www.xtalpi.com

Media contact:

info@singleronbio.com

Ruyu.wang@xtalpi.com