Ono Pharma Partners with Aitia to Use Causal AI Digital Twins for Neurological Drug Discovery
核心洞察
Ono Pharmaceutical and Aitia (搜索) announced a drug discovery partnership on September 2, 2026, focused on neurological diseases (搜索) with high unmet medical need.
Aitia (搜索) will use its causal AI-based REFS™ technology to build Gemini Digital Twins that identify novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers.
Ono gains exclusive worldwide option rights to research, develop, and commercialize drug candidates against targets identified by Aitia (搜索).
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Aitia (搜索), Inc. announced on September 2, 2026, that they have entered into a drug discovery partnership agreement aimed at identifying novel therapeutic targets in neurological diseases (搜索). Under the agreement, Aitia will apply its causal AI-based REFS™ technology to build Gemini Digital Twins (GDTs) of neurological diseases, while Ono will hold exclusive worldwide option rights to research, develop, and commercialize drug candidates against the targets identified by Aitia.
The collaboration brings together Ono, headquartered in Osaka, Japan, and Aitia (搜索), headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Ono has long targeted areas with unmet medical needs, including oncology, immunology & inflammation, and neurology, while Aitia leverages its proprietary causal-AI REFS™ technology to build human data-based Gemini Digital Twins and discover new therapeutic targets and biomarkers across oncology, neurology, immunology, and other disease areas.
A Causal AI Approach to Complex Disease Biology
Aitia (搜索)'s Gemini Digital Twin platform enables the inference of causal relationships to identify novel drug targets, a capability that conventional correlation-based AI cannot achieve. Each GDT functions as a virtual patient model that reflects the disease characteristics of real patients.
GDTs are built using Aitia (搜索)'s causal AI-based REFS™ technology, which the companies expect to be highly compatible with the discovery of novel therapeutic targets for neurological diseases (搜索). These conditions are characterized by complex interactions among genetic, developmental, neural network, immune, and environmental factors. By integrating and analyzing patient clinical information and omics data through causal AI simulations, REFS™ technology creates virtual patient models from which it is possible to predict new therapeutic targets and disease hypotheses based on causal relationships.
Aitia (搜索)'s REFS™ technology is expected to enable the discovery of previously unknown disease mechanisms and drug targets in the highly challenging neurology field, where disease mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Leadership Perspectives
"Ono has long been committed to creating innovative medicines for diseases with high unmet medical needs, including neurological diseases (搜索). Through this collaboration, we are delighted to leverage cutting-edge REFS™ technology to identify true therapeutic targets in neurological diseases, where disease mechanisms are complex and not yet fully understood. We believe this will accelerate the development of innovative medicines. We will continue to expand our R&D pipeline in the neurology field and strive to deliver new treatments to patients," said Seishi Katsumata, Corporate Officer / Executive Vice President, Discovery & Research of Ono.
"We are honored to partner with Ono, a company with a strong track record in the neurology field. By utilizing our state-of-the-art causal AI-powered REFS™ technology, we are confident that we can build Gemini Digital Twins that uncover true disease mechanisms and therapeutic targets that could not be identified with conventional AI, thereby accelerating the development of new therapies," said Colin Hill, CEO and co-founder of Aitia (搜索).
Strategic Implications
Under the terms of the agreement, Aitia (搜索) will utilize its REFS™ technology to build Gemini Digital Twins of neurological diseases (搜索) and identify new therapeutic targets and biomarkers. Ono will have an exclusive worldwide option right to research, develop, and commercialize drug candidates to the targets identified by Aitia.
The partnership reflects Ono's broader strategy of fostering collaborations with academic and biotech organizations to accelerate drug discovery. Through its affiliate, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals (搜索), Ono is also accelerating clinical development and commercial operations in the US and Europe to drive global business expansion and further its commitment to patient care.