Key points from article :
A new collaboration between Algen Biotechnologies, a startup spun out of Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna’s UC Berkeley lab, and AstraZeneca aims to harness AI and CRISPR gene modulation to accelerate drug discovery. The deal, worth up to $555 million, will focus on identifying new, biologically meaningful therapeutic targets — a crucial first step in developing more effective treatments. AstraZeneca’s Chief Data Scientist, Dr. Jim Weatherall, highlighted the potential of Algen’s approach to find “truly transformative” targets with direct human relevance.
Founded by Chun-Hao Huang and Christine Du, Algen merges single-cell CRISPR gene modulation with AI-driven causal inference to explore the molecular basis of disease in human cells. This combination allows researchers to sift through billions of RNA-level changes and pinpoint which genes actively drive disease, rather than merely correlating with it. The company believes this could substantially improve the translational accuracy of preclinical discoveries, helping bridge the gap between lab findings and real-world clinical success.
The initial focus of the AstraZeneca collaboration will be immunology, an area where chronic inflammatory diseases stem from complex signaling pathways. However, Algen’s platform could also play a key role in tackling age-related conditions, such as neurodegenerative diseases, by uncovering molecular mechanisms that unfold gradually over time.
According to Du, the platform’s adaptability makes it especially promising for aging and multifactorial disorders, where identifying genes that truly cause disease could open new therapeutic avenues. By mapping RNA dynamics at massive scale and linking them to cellular function, Algen hopes to not only improve drug discovery but also redefine how we understand and treat complex diseases — potentially paving the way for interventions that could slow or reverse age-related decline.
