Laboratoires Pierre Fabre and XtalPi Announce an AI-Driven Collaboration Focused on Drug Discovery

Under the agreement, XtalPi will use its integrated AI capabilities and robotics platform to de novo design and deliver novel small molecule therapeutics against undisclosed targets.  Laboratoires Pierre Fabre will contribute with its expertise in disease biology, discovery, translational research, and clinical development to select and advance the most promising compounds, and will be responsible for subsequent clinical and commercial development. 

The collaboration reflects the parties’ shared interest in exploring challenging and historically hard-to-drug targets—an area associated with significant unmet medical need and substantial opportunity in innovative drug discovery.

For Laboratoires Pierre Fabre, this agreement represents a strategic addition to its R&D roadmap, strengthening its drug discovery capabilities. It also advances XtalPi’s efforts to apply AI and robotics to de novo drug discovery. Together, the companies aim to accelerate the identification of high-quality clinical candidates across multiple research programs in oncology and potentially other therapeutic areas.

The agreement includes an upfront payment, multiple milestone payments and downstream economic participation; specific financial terms were not disclosed. 

XtalPi Holdings Limited (XtalPi, 2228.HK) was founded in 2015 by three physicists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is an innovative R&D platform powered by quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and robotics. By integrating first-principles calculations, AI algorithms, high-performance cloud computing, and standardized automation systems, XtalPi provides digital and intelligent R&D solutions for companies in the pharmaceutical, materials science, agricultural technology, energy, new chemicals, and cosmetics industries.