Excalipoint and DP Technology Partner on AI Antibody Discovery Platform

Excalipoint Therapeutics and DP Technology have announced a strategic collaboration to develop a new artificial intelligence (AI) platform designed to speed up the discovery of T-cell engagers (TCEs) and multi-specific antibodies. The companies hope the platform will make it easier to develop new treatments for cancer and autoimmune diseases while reducing the time and cost involved in early-stage drug research.

The collaboration combines Excalipoint’s expertise in designing T-cell engager therapies with DP Technology’s AI agent technology. Together, the companies aim to address some of the biggest challenges in developing complex antibody-based medicines.

T-cell engagers are a new type of immunotherapy that helps the body’s immune system recognize and destroy cancer cells. These therapies work by connecting immune T cells directly to cancer cells, allowing the immune system to attack tumors more effectively. Multi-specific antibodies are advanced medicines that can bind to two or more biological targets at the same time, offering the potential for more precise and effective treatments.

Despite their promise, developing these therapies is highly complex.

Scientists must carefully balance a treatment’s ability to kill cancer cells with its potential to cause harmful side effects. Small changes in how an antibody binds to its target, its structure, or the number of targets it recognizes can significantly affect both safety and effectiveness.

Traditionally, researchers have relied on repeated laboratory experiments to identify the best drug candidates. This trial-and-error approach often requires years of testing and substantial financial investment.

The new AI platform is designed to improve that process by using computer models to predict which drug designs are most likely to succeed before laboratory testing begins.

According to the companies, the platform combines Excalipoint’s proprietary molecular libraries and experimental datasets with DP Technology’s SciMaster and BioMaster AI systems.

The integrated platform will provide several capabilities, including predicting antibody binding strength, evaluating drug quality, performing structural simulations and automatically analyzing potential drug candidates.

One of the key features of the platform is its ability to balance multiple design parameters simultaneously. Rather than following fixed research steps, the AI system can continuously adjust its predictions and recommend the most promising combinations of molecular properties to improve the likelihood of successful drug development.

The companies also plan to use a human-AI collaboration model, where the AI performs much of the routine molecular analysis while scientists focus on important scientific decisions, such as evaluating treatment safety and identifying potential risks like cytokine release syndrome, a serious immune-related side effect sometimes associated with T-cell engager therapies.

Another important component of the platform is a Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycle. Experimental laboratory results will be continuously fed back into the AI system, allowing it to improve its predictions over time as more data become available. The companies believe this ongoing learning process will eventually enable highly autonomous AI-driven drug design.

Dr. Lei Fang, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Excalipoint Therapeutics, said T-cell engagers and other multi-specific antibodies represent the next generation of cancer immunotherapies. However, he noted that their complex molecular structures make development expensive and reduce research efficiency.

Fang said Excalipoint’s extensive experimental data and T-cell engager research will provide the foundation for the AI platform. He added that the collaboration is intended to build a proprietary research system that improves confidence in preclinical results, shortens development timelines and reduces wasted resources.

According to Fang, the company plans to integrate AI throughout its entire research and development process as part of its transformation into a fully digital biotechnology company.

Weijie Sun, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of DP Technology, said the company’s goal is to use artificial intelligence to support scientific innovation. He added that combining DP Technology’s AI platform with Excalipoint’s biological expertise will create a customized solution for developing next-generation multi-specific antibodies.

Initially, the AI platform will focus on accelerating Excalipoint’s existing T-cell engager pipeline. Over time, the companies plan to expand its use into other stages of drug development, including target discovery, pharmacology, toxicology studies and clinical trial design.

The collaboration reflects the growing use of artificial intelligence in biotechnology, where companies are increasingly using advanced computing tools to improve research efficiency and speed the development of innovative therapies for patients with cancer and autoimmune diseases.