SandboxAQ and MapLight Therapeutics Partner to Develop AI-Discovered First-in-Class CNS Therapies
SandboxAQ and MapLight Therapeutics (Nasdaq: MPLT) have entered into a strategic collaboration aimed at discovering and developing potential first-in-class therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders by targeting a novel G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR).
Under the agreement, SandboxAQ received an upfront payment and is eligible for up to $200 million in additional milestone payments tied to preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial achievements. The two companies will work together on preclinical research, while MapLight Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MPLT) will retain exclusive rights to advance any resulting compounds into clinical development and commercialization.
The collaboration brings together MapLight’s expertise in CNS biology with SandboxAQ’s advanced artificial intelligence–driven drug discovery capabilities. The GPCR target at the center of the partnership was identified and validated using MapLight’s discovery platform, and is believed to hold promise across a range of neurological and psychiatric conditions with significant unmet medical needs.
“We are excited to advance research efforts for this novel target that was identified and validated using our discovery platform,” said James Lillie, Chief Scientific Officer of MapLight Therapeutics. “By collaborating with SandboxAQ, we can leverage powerful AI tools to accelerate the discovery of innovative therapies that could meaningfully impact patients with CNS disorders.”
SandboxAQ will apply its AQBioSim platform, which combines large-scale AI models with high-fidelity molecular simulation, to explore GPCR structure and function in unprecedented detail. The platform is designed to predict ligand-receptor interactions, optimize drug-like properties, and accelerate iterative design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) cycles, allowing researchers to explore chemical space more efficiently than traditional approaches.
“Our AQBioSim platform enables us to simulate and predict molecular interactions with GPCRs at a level of precision that was not previously achievable,” said Andrea Bortolato, Vice President of Drug Discovery at SandboxAQ. “By pairing our technology with MapLight’s CNS expertise, we aim to rapidly generate and optimize potential drug candidates and advance promising first-in-class therapies.”
The collaboration underscores the growing role of AI-driven approaches in tackling complex neurological targets and reflects continued interest from biopharmaceutical companies in combining computational platforms with deep disease-area expertise to shorten development timelines and improve the probability of success in CNS drug discovery.
