Elix and University of Vienna Partner to Target Undruggable Proteins with AI-Driven Drug Discovery
Key Insights
Japanese AI drug discovery company Elix and the University of Vienna have signed a joint research agreement to accelerate drug discovery using AI technologies.
The partnership combines Elix's AI-driven molecular generation platform with the Orts Lab's pioneering NMR spectroscopy techniques for atomic-resolution structural biology.
The collaboration specifically targets intrinsically disordered proteins and proteins implicated in epigenetic signaling and cancer (search), aiming to address traditionally "undruggable" targets.
Japanese AI drug discovery company Elix, Inc. (search) and the University of Vienna have entered into a joint research agreement aimed at advancing drug discovery through the integration of artificial intelligence and cutting-edge structural biology. The partnership, announced on July 29, 2026, brings together Elix's expertise in AI-driven molecular generation with the University of Vienna's pioneering nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy capabilities to target proteins that have long eluded traditional drug discovery approaches.
The collaboration centers on the research group led by Associate Professor Julien Orts at the University of Vienna's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. The Orts Lab specializes in decoding the atomic-resolution structures, dynamics, and interactions of biomacromolecules using advanced NMR techniques, with a primary focus on protein conformational switches and allostery in signaling.
"We are thrilled to partner with Elix to bridge the gap between advanced structural biology and artificial intelligence," said Associate Professor Orts. "My laboratory has always been driven by the desire to push the boundaries of what NMR can achieve in drug discovery."
Addressing the Undruggable
Traditional drug discovery methods require considerable time and cost to identify promising compounds from a large number of candidates, yet still face low success rates as a key obstacle. The application of AI to molecular design and property prediction enables researchers to more accurately design drug candidates and narrow down synthesis and evaluation targets, thereby accelerating development and reducing costs from the early discovery stage onward.
The joint project specifically targets intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and proteins implicated in epigenetic signaling and cancer (search) — classes of targets traditionally considered "undruggable." By merging Elix's proprietary chemoinformatics-based approaches with the Orts group's structural dynamics expertise, the partners aim to bypass the limitations of conventional drug discovery.
"By combining our ability to resolve protein dynamics at atomic precision with Elix's sophisticated AI-driven generation, we can move beyond static structures and begin to target the complex, transient behaviors of proteins that were once considered out of reach," Orts explained. "This synergy is exactly what is needed to accelerate the discovery of transformative medicines for the next generation."
Technological Synergy
The Orts Lab has developed groundbreaking methodologies including INPHARMA for validating small-molecule binding modes and NMR² for the automated determination of protein-ligand structures. The lab also applies eNOE distance measurements with 0.1 Å accuracy to resolve protein ensembles, providing the thermodynamic insights necessary to tackle undruggable targets and advance modern structure-based drug design.
On the AI side, Elix contributes its integrated drug discovery platform, Elix Discovery™, developed under the concept of "medicinal chemists can truly use it." The platform offers an intuitive graphical user interface that automatically constructs predictive models for optimal compound profiling and features diverse structure generation capabilities, with a unique strength in "proposing structures that humans would not conceive." The platform supports both ligand-based drug design, including pharmacophore modeling, and structure-based drug design utilizing docking simulations.
Shinya Yuki, CEO of Elix, emphasized the global significance of the partnership: "At Elix, our mission is to rethink drug discovery by bridging cutting-edge AI with experimental innovation. Collaborating with the group led by Associate Professor Julien Orts at the University of Vienna allows us to pursue this mission on a global scale, uniting expertise in AI drug discovery with world-leading structural biology."
Yuki added, "We believe this partnership will open new possibilities for targeting diseases that have long remained beyond the reach of traditional drug discovery."
The collaboration represents one of several strategic partnerships for Elix, which has previously announced joint research agreements with PRISM BioLab for protein-protein interaction targets and with Tohoku University for AI drug discovery, reflecting the company's expanding global research network.