Alivexis and Astellas Pharma Announce Collaborative Research on New Drug Discovery Targets
Alivexis, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Shun Kimura) announced on March 26, 2026, the signing of a second collaborative research agreement with Astellas Pharma Inc. This follows a previous joint research project started in June 2024. The new project aims to discover new small molecule compounds for drug targets selected by Astellas, utilizing Alivexis's computational drug discovery platform, including ModBind™, to create innovative therapeutic drugs.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: March 26, 2026 at 23:08
- 🔍 Collected: March 28, 2026 at 21:59 (46h 50m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 14, 2026 at 23:09 (409h 9m after Collected)
Alivexis, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Shun Kimura, hereinafter "the Company") is pleased to announce that on March 26, 2026, it entered into a second collaborative research agreement (hereinafter "this Collaborative Research") with Astellas Pharma Inc. (hereinafter "Astellas"). This follows a previous joint research project that commenced in June 2024, for which Astellas exercised its option to acquire the rights to the research findings in September 2025.
This Collaborative Research aims to discover new small molecule compounds and create innovative therapeutic drugs for drug target molecules selected by Astellas, by leveraging our computational drug discovery platform, which includes ModBind™. In this collaboration, the Company will be responsible for integrated drug discovery research, including in silico evaluation using the computational drug discovery platform, as well as the establishment of multiple experimental systems and the design, synthesis, and evaluation of compounds. Astellas will acquire an option on the research results.
### About ModBind™
ModBind™ is a physics-based simulation technology independently developed by the Company that predicts the binding strength between small molecule compounds and target proteins with high speed and accuracy, without requiring experimental biological activity data. Using this ModBind™ technology and other platform technologies, we have already produced five clinical candidate compounds. The technical utility of this has been widely demonstrated, for instance, by the out-licensing of MDI-0151 to a Swiss company in June 2024 for approximately 42.5 billion yen. Additionally, in the third phase of the "GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge)" project, a project by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) aimed at strengthening generative AI development capabilities in Japan, we succeeded in dramatically improving the predictive performance of conventional drug discovery generative AI models by integrating ModBind™ into the AI learning workflow with ModBind™xAI, adding a new lineup to our platform. The Company is also conducting joint research with pharmaceutical companies centered on these platform technologies and has already achieved multiple successes.
### Comment from Shun Kimura, CEO of Alivexis, Inc.
"I am very pleased to announce the signing of our second collaborative drug discovery project with Astellas. In this partnership, we expect to accelerate compound discovery for specific drug targets by leveraging our unique and groundbreaking ModBind™ simulation technology. Through this project, we anticipate demonstrating the high utility of our technology and contributing to the discovery of new clinical candidate compounds for diseases with high patient needs."
**About Alivexis, Inc.**
Company Name: Alivexis, Inc.
Headquarters: 7th Floor, Daiichi Hibiya Building, 1-18-21 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives: CEO Shun Kimura, COO Kazuki Ohno
Established: August 8, 2016
URL: https://alivexis.com
Business: State-of-the-art drug discovery...
This Collaborative Research aims to discover new small molecule compounds and create innovative therapeutic drugs for drug target molecules selected by Astellas, by leveraging our computational drug discovery platform, which includes ModBind™. In this collaboration, the Company will be responsible for integrated drug discovery research, including in silico evaluation using the computational drug discovery platform, as well as the establishment of multiple experimental systems and the design, synthesis, and evaluation of compounds. Astellas will acquire an option on the research results.
### About ModBind™
ModBind™ is a physics-based simulation technology independently developed by the Company that predicts the binding strength between small molecule compounds and target proteins with high speed and accuracy, without requiring experimental biological activity data. Using this ModBind™ technology and other platform technologies, we have already produced five clinical candidate compounds. The technical utility of this has been widely demonstrated, for instance, by the out-licensing of MDI-0151 to a Swiss company in June 2024 for approximately 42.5 billion yen. Additionally, in the third phase of the "GENIAC (Generative AI Accelerator Challenge)" project, a project by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) aimed at strengthening generative AI development capabilities in Japan, we succeeded in dramatically improving the predictive performance of conventional drug discovery generative AI models by integrating ModBind™ into the AI learning workflow with ModBind™xAI, adding a new lineup to our platform. The Company is also conducting joint research with pharmaceutical companies centered on these platform technologies and has already achieved multiple successes.
### Comment from Shun Kimura, CEO of Alivexis, Inc.
"I am very pleased to announce the signing of our second collaborative drug discovery project with Astellas. In this partnership, we expect to accelerate compound discovery for specific drug targets by leveraging our unique and groundbreaking ModBind™ simulation technology. Through this project, we anticipate demonstrating the high utility of our technology and contributing to the discovery of new clinical candidate compounds for diseases with high patient needs."
**About Alivexis, Inc.**
Company Name: Alivexis, Inc.
Headquarters: 7th Floor, Daiichi Hibiya Building, 1-18-21 Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives: CEO Shun Kimura, COO Kazuki Ohno
Established: August 8, 2016
URL: https://alivexis.com
Business: State-of-the-art drug discovery...