Insilico Medicine and SK Biopharmaceuticals have entered a research and development collaboration worth up to $2.5 billion to discover AI-enabled drug candidates for neuroimmune disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). Announced at the BIO 2026 International Convention, the partnership aims to address significant unmet patient needs in neuroinflammatory, neurodegenerative, and rare neurological disorders. The total potential deal value represents a record for Insilico with partners in the Asia-Pacific region.

Under the agreement, Insilico will apply its proprietary Pharma.AI platform, spanning target validation, generative chemistry, and molecule optimization, to identify and design novel candidates. SK Biopharmaceuticals will contribute its development and clinical capabilities in neuroimmune disorders, managing late-stage development and commercialization. Financially, Insilico is eligible to receive up to $18 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments. The deal structure includes development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, as well as single-digit royalties on net sales upon commercialization.

The collaboration combines Insilico's AI-driven target-to-candidate engine with SK Biopharmaceuticals' CNS expertise. SK Biopharmaceuticals President and CEO Donghoon Lee highlighted the partnership as a scalable growth platform to expand beyond epilepsy. Insilico founder, co-CEO, and CBO Dr. Alex Zhavoronkov emphasized the potential to unlock breakthrough therapies using both traditional small molecules and advanced new modalities.

Insilico's platform has reduced the traditional early-stage drug discovery timeline of 2.5 to 4 years to an average of 12 to 18 months for preclinical candidate nomination. Since 2021, the company has nominated 31 preclinical candidates, 13 of which have received Investigational New Drug (IND) approval or clearance. Insilico is also enhancing its AI platform through MMAI Gym, a benchmarking tool for scientific AI that has attracted partners like Human Longevity and Liquid AI.

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SK Biopharmaceuticals, known for commercializing the epilepsy treatment XCOPRI (cenobamate), is leveraging AI to expand its pipeline into radiopharmaceutical therapies and targeted protein degradation. Insilico Medicine, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the code 03696.HK, focuses on integrating AI and automation to accelerate drug discovery across fibrosis, oncology, and immunology.