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Chugai Pharmaceutical, a leading Japanese drugmaker majority-owned by Roche, has entered a strategic collaboration with Singapore-based biotech company Gero to discover and develop therapies for age-related diseases. The deal, worth up to $250 million, grants Chugai exclusive global rights to antibodies that target disease mechanisms identified by Gero’s AI-powered platform.
Gero has developed a machine learning system trained on human data and physical models to uncover the drivers of ageing and related conditions. The platform is designed not only to predict health outcomes but also to explain the biological reasoning behind those predictions. It has previously led to research publications on ageing biomarkers and a collaboration with Pfizer to identify fibrosis-related targets.
Under this new partnership, Gero will use its platform to discover promising therapeutic targets associated with ageing and age-related diseases. Chugai will apply its antibody engineering technologies to develop novel therapies based on these targets. According to Gero’s CEO Peter Fedichev, the aim is to translate ageing insights into treatments that restore lost physiological function.
This collaboration is part of Chugai’s broader vision to become a global innovation leader by 2030. The company is increasingly integrating artificial intelligence into its operations, including a recent partnership with SoftBank to develop AI agents for clinical development. With its focus currently on oncology, neurology, and immunology, Chugai’s interest in ageing reflects a growing trend among pharmaceutical companies to address the root causes of chronic diseases associated with getting older.
