Cyclica: Building the biotech pipeline of the future

World class teams rooted in science using superior technology won’t change the world alone. A fundamentally new business model is still needed. But at Cyclica, teams are building a connected ecosystem through its work with early stage biotechs and big pharma alike. Its pipeline is based on making data-driven decisions about molecule design by applying machine learning to protein biophysics. Whether their partners are a startup or a large multi-national company, Cyclica accelerates and de-risks drug discovery with its team and its technology while also catalyzing new types of business relationships. Cyclica decentralizes innovation with technology, build novel data-driven pipelines, and fuel cross-organizational collaborations at a molecular level.

Through its work with early stage biotechs and large-tier one pharma alike, Cyclica is decentralizing innovation with technology, building novel data-driven pipelines, and instigating cross-organizational collaborations at a molecular level. For its large biotech and pharma customers, the company helps enrich existing portfolios, building custom models that deliver IP-grade, proprietary insights with breakthrough efficiency and precision. Separately, across a portfolio of more than 50 joint ventures and growing, Cyclica works at the vanguard of a wide variety of therapeutic areas to help get new medicines to patients faster and more precisely.

The company also seeks partnerships with the academia for its cause. Recently, Cyclica announced its partnerships with:

• Duke University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, North Carolina State University and The University of California, San Francisco in Oncology
• Brown University and The University of California, San Francisco in Neuroscience
• The University of Minnesota in Inflammatory disease
• The University of Washington in AutoImmune disease
• Rutgers University in Metabolic disease
• Saint Louis University in Virology/Infectious disease

"Cyclica decentralizes innovation with technology, build novel data-driven pipelines, and fuel cross-organizational collaborations at a molecular level."

Partnership with Arctoris

Recently, Cyclica announced a partnership with Arctoris Ltd. (“Arctoris”), a tech-enabled biopharma company that combines its unique automation with computational approaches to progress drug discovery. The companies are expanding their partnership to progress drug discovery programs for novel neurodegenerative targets with a focus on Alzheimer's disease. This planned expansion of the partnership follows the results from an initial engagement that yielded positive results for targets related to both oncology and neurodegenerative disease.

“Cyclica’s platform and capabilities in combination with the biological assay development of Arctoris will enable us to yield meaningful results and advance research development for patients suffering from Alzheimers and other neurodegenerative diseases. The potential of combining our two specialties is very promising and we are extremely optimistic about the impact this partnership is expected to have on patients” shares Naheed Kurji, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Cyclica.

Dr. Martin-Immanuel Bittner, MD DPhil FRSA, CEO of Arctoris, commented, “Our joint drug discovery program focuses on dual specificity inhibitors - a very promising yet also challenging modality. Cyclica is one of the leaders in this space, leveraging their structure-based and AI-directed molecule design for polypharmacology, while at Arctoris we have built a particular expertise in complex mechanistic enzymology and advanced cell-based models in neurodegeneration. This is a highly synergistic partnership, and I am excited about what we can achieve together for patients around the world in an indication area in dire need of new and better treatment options.”

Cyclica and Arctoris have long-term plans for their partnership as discussions are already underway about tackling additional therapeutic targets.

"Cyclica works at the vanguard of a wide variety of therapeutic areas to help get new medicines to patients faster and more precisely."

About the Leader

Naheed Kurji, Co-Founder, President and CEO

Naheed Kurji is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of Cyclica. Naheed is passionate about building AI-augmented technologies that enable researchers to make more strategic and informed decisions in Healthcare and the life sciences. He spends the majority of his time obsessing over Cyclica’s culture, defining its strategy to best effect change in the pharma industry to achieve the company’s vision, and exploring opportunities for continued innovation. He strives to foster an environment where the Cyclica team can debate, collaborate, problem-solve, and design solutions for some of the most difficult problems faced in improving human health. Naheed has been featured in the Globe and Mail, CBC, Forbes, Vanity Fair, StartUp Health Magazine, Venture Beat, and guest lectures at various universities on the topic of AI in drug discovery and entrepreneurship.

Naheed is also a Co-founder and Director of Entheogenix Biosciences, a psychedelic inspired biotech company for mental health, a Co-founder, Board Member and Executive Officer of the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (AAIH), and serves as a Member of the Life Sciences Advisory Group for Global Affairs Canada. Naheed has an MBA from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, a BSc from the University of Ottawa and a Certificate from MIT CSAIL in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy.