Iambic Therapeutics has entered into a multi-year technology and discovery collaboration with Takeda aimed at advancing a select group of small-molecule drug programs in oncology, gastrointestinal, and inflammatory diseases.

The collaboration is structured to combine Iambic’s computational models with its integrated wet lab capabilities, enabling rapid Design-Make-Test-Analyze cycles.¹ Iambic says these cycles can be completed on a weekly basis, allowing programs to iterate more quickly than traditional discovery approaches.

In addition to AI-driven molecular design, the platform integrates automated chemical synthesis and experimental testing to validate predictions in parallel with model development.¹

A central component of the deal is Takeda’s access to NeuralPLexer, Iambic’s proprietary model for predicting protein–ligand complexes.¹ Accurate modeling of these interactions remains a key bottleneck in small-molecule discovery, particularly for difficult-to-drug targets.¹

In a press release, Takeda said that it expects the technology to help improve candidate selection and shorten timelines from early discovery to investigational new drug (IND) filing.

“Our collaboration with Takeda is a powerful opportunity to apply our AI-driven discovery and development platform, and we are excited to partner with their team to quickly advance new and better drug candidates,” said Tom Miller, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Iambic, in the press release. “This collaboration further validates our industry-leading technology and highlights both the breadth of our discovery capabilities and the scale at which we can operate.”

What are the details of the collaboration?

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Takeda will be granted the rights to use Iambic’s AI-driven discovery platform to support high-priority internal programs, initially focused on oncology and immunology-related indications.¹

Iambic’s AI-platform includes Enchant, a multimodal transformer model designed to predict both preclinical and clinical endpoints, alongside NeuralPLexer.¹ Enchant recently received Nvidia HGX B200 clusters to support its training in a partnership with Lambda, aiming to help improve the drug discovery model.²

According to Iambic, its approach integrates physics-based principles into AI architectures to improve data efficiency and enable broader exploration of chemical space.¹ The platform is designed to identify novel chemical modalities, optimize therapeutic windows, and support multiparameter optimization for differentiated development candidates.

The collaboration reflects Takeda’s strategy of selectively partnering with technology-focused biotech’s to accelerate candidate identification and de-risk development decisions earlier in the pipeline.

Financial terms of the agreement include upfront payments, research funding, and technology access fees for Iambic, along with success-based milestone payments that could exceed $1.7 billion if certain development and commercial objectives are met.¹

Iambic will also be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of any products that emerge from the collaboration. Takeda did not disclose financial commitments on its side beyond the agreed-upon payments.

“We are excited to be able access Iambic’s proprietary computational platform while we work with their team to develop small molecule therapeutics with the potential to address critical unmet patient needs,” said Chris Arendt, PhD, chief scientific officer and head of research at Takeda, in the press release. “At Takeda, our focus is on accelerating the development of impactful new medicines by leveraging cutting-edge science, including the latest advances in artificial intelligence. Iambic’s small molecule platform aligns with this ambition and offers the potential to de-risk candidate selection, improve probability of success, and more quickly advance select programs from early project start to IND.”

Sources

1. Iambic Announces Collaboration with Takeda to Advance AI-Driven Design of Small Molecules Iambic February 9, 2026 https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260209143930/en/Iambic-Announces-Collaboration-with-Takeda-to-Advance-AI-Driven-Design-of-Small-Molecules
2. Iambic takes the lead for Next-Gen AI Drug Discovery with Lambda Lambda June 26, 2025 https://lambda.ai/blog/lambda-iambic-enchant-deal-pr