Generative AI drug development company Aqemia announced on Friday an expansion of its multi-year drug discovery collaboration with French healthcare company Sanofi S.A. (Euronext Paris:SAN) (Nasdaq:SNY) with the nomination of a new therapeutic target, triggering a milestone payment.

Under the partnership, first announced in December 2023, Aqemia is eligible to receive up to USD140m in upfront and milestone payments across multiple programmes. Aqemia uses its Qemi physics-based generative AI platform to design small-molecule drug candidates for Sanofi-selected targets, while Sanofi leads wet lab research, development and commercialisation.

The collaboration involves Aqemia researchers in Paris and London and Sanofi researchers in Boston, Frankfurt and Paris and includes work on first-in-class projects with limited chemical data. The newly nominated therapeutic target expands the scope of the partnership and marks the next phase of the collaboration.