Pharma A/S 正与 Generate Biomedicines Inc. 合作，在一项价值十亿美元的交易中利用人工智能开发新型肥胖治疗方案，扩大了对下一代减肥药物的竞争。
Pharma A/S is teaming up with Generate Biomedicines Inc. in a billion-dollar deal to develop new obesity treatments using artificial intelligence, expanding the race for the next generation of weight-loss drugs.
根据彭博社审阅的一份文件，这家丹麦生物技术公司将向 Generate 支付 3000 万美元的预付款和 3500 万美元的早期里程碑款项，并有望因研究、开发、监管和商业里程碑获得总计近 12 亿美元的付款。该协议最初涵盖两项实验性药物项目，并有选择权增加第三项。
The Danish biotechnology company will pay Generate $30 million upfront and $35 million for early milestones, with the potential for nearly $1.2 billion in total payments tied to research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones, according to a document reviewed by Bloomberg. The agreement initially covers two experimental drug programs, with an option to add a third.
该合作凸显了随着肥胖市场竞争加剧，药企越来越多地转向人工智能以开发更精密的药物。各公司正在测试新方法，这些方法有望在疗效、耐受性和便利性方面超越礼来公司（Eli Lilly & Co.）和诺和诺德（Novo Nordisk A/S）现有的治疗方案。
The partnership underscores how drugmakers are increasingly turning to AI to develop more sophisticated medicines as competition intensifies in the lucrative obesity market. Companies are testing new approaches that could improve on the effectiveness, tolerability and convenience of existing treatments from Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S.
对 Zealand 而言，此次交易代表了其扩大药物研发能力的努力。该公司目前正与罗氏控股（Roche Holding AG）合作，测试针对调节食欲激素淀粉样肽（amylin）的实验性治疗方案，同时也在研发针对其他代谢通路的药物。
For Zealand, the deal represents an effort to broaden its drug development capabilities. The company, in partnership with Roche Holding AG, is currently testing experimental treatments targeting amylin, a hormone that helps regulate appetite. It’s also developing drugs aimed at other metabolic pathways.
Zealand-Generate 合作将专注于开发多特异性蛋白质，这种蛋白质经过工程设计，能够与两个或更多生物靶点相互作用。此类药物有望在单一治疗中同时作用于肥胖和代谢性疾病涉及的多种机制。
The Zealand-Generate collaboration will focus on developing multispecific proteins, which are engineered to interact with two or more biological targets. Such medicines could potentially address several mechanisms involved in obesity and metabolic diseases within a single treatment.
Generate 得到 Flagship Pioneering 的支持，利用生成式人工智能设计具有特定生物功能的蛋白质，然后在实验室中进行测试，并将结果反馈到其模型中以改进未来的设计。与筛选现有分子不同，这些公司计划首先确定他们希望药物具备的特征，然后利用人工智能设计能够实现这些效果的蛋白质。
Generate, which is backed by Flagship Pioneering, uses generative AI to design proteins with specific biological functions, then tests them in a lab and feeds the results back into its models to improve future designs. Rather than screening existing molecules, the companies plan to first identify the characteristics they want in a medicine and use AI to design proteins that could deliver those effects.
总部位于马萨诸塞州索默维尔的公司将通过筛选有前景的药物候选者来主导早期研究，而西兰则负责监督潜在的临床试验、监管批准以及最终的商业化进程。
The Somerville, Massachusetts-based company will lead early research through the selection of promising drug candidates, while Zealand will oversee potential clinical trials, regulatory approvals and eventual commercialization.
该协议还体现了西兰在美国建立更广泛研究业务的雄心。该公司最近在马萨诸塞州剑桥开设了研发中心，将其科学影响力扩展到了哥本哈根总部之外。
The agreement also builds on Zealand’s ambitions to establish a broader research operation in the US. The company recently opened a research and development hub in Cambridge, Massachusetts, expanding its scientific presence beyond its Copenhagen headquarters.
此次合作为Generate提供了将其人工智能驱动的蛋白质工程技术应用于肥胖治疗的机会，而制药公司正在大力投资于针对多种激素和生物通路的疗法。
The partnership offers Generate an opportunity to apply its AI-driven protein-engineering technology to obesity, where pharmaceutical companies are investing heavily in treatments targeting multiple hormones and biological pathways.
双方未透露他们计划针对的具体靶点，也没有说明首批实验药物何时可能进入人体测试。
The companies didn’t disclose which specific targets they plan to pursue or when the first experimental medicines might enter human testing.