Vivtex, Astellas partner on oral biologic Gut-on-Chip tech

Through the partnership, Vivtex — a biotech company aiming to transform the development of oral biologic therapies for major diseases — aims to amp its AI-drug discovery capabilities, providing ability to generate, process, and analyze large datasets.

The partnership aims to take an Astellas molecule that currently requires needle injection and transform it into an oral version. The financials of this agreement have not been disclosed.

GI-ORIS is a high throughput screening technology supporting testing of 1000s of samples per day. Vivtex’s library contains about 10,000 formulations, and through this AI-enabled tech the firm claims to safely diversify the range of formulation. The firm can also perform a high throughput screen for a compound of interest and use AI to interrogate the dataset. 

“The absolute level of oral bioavailability that can be achieved for a molecule is dependent on the chemical and physicochemical properties of that particular molecule,” a spokesperson for Vivtex told BioProcess Insider. 

“Biologics are unable to get absorbed in the GI tract due to their large size and complexity. Our ability to perform a high throughput screen of our proprietary formulations enables us to pick the optimum formulation that can facilitate absorption of the biologic in the GI tract.”  

The firm aims to enable the prediction of GI absorption of macromolecules based on chemical structures and physicochemical properties. Moreover, it aims to optimize drug delivery systems for enhanced efficacy, safety, and stability. 

Vivtex has confirmed that this technology has been patented, and although no deal is yet in place, “a successful project could result in a licensing deal.”