Novartis and Unnatural Products in $1.7B Collab
Longevity biotech firm Unnatural Products has inked a $1.7 billion collaboration deal with pharmaceutical giant Novartis. The partnership will focus on co-developing therapies for cardiovascular diseases. The deal highlights significant investment and momentum in the longevity and AI-driven drug discovery sectors.
- The deal includes up to $100 million in upfront and pre-IND (Investigational New Drug) milestone payments for Unnatural Products, with the remaining potential payment of over $1.6 billion tied to development, regulatory, and commercial milestones. Novartis will handle all clinical development and commercialization, while UNP will focus on the initial discovery phases. - Unnatural Products was founded by Cameron Pye, Ph.D., and Joshua Schwochert, Ph.D., who started the company while completing their doctoral research in chemistry at UC Santa Cruz. They launched the company in 2017, initially working out of a shared lab space for biotech startups and raising early funding to build out their drug discovery platform. - The collaboration centers on Unnatural Products' AI-enhanced platform for discovering macrocycles, a class of molecules that can address "undruggable" targets inside of cells. This technology combines machine learning with chemical synthesis to create orally-delivered peptide therapeutics, merging the properties of small molecules and larger biologic drugs. - For Novartis, this partnership is part of a broader strategy to integrate AI across its research and development to accelerate drug discovery. The company has also established collaborations with Microsoft for large-scale computing and AI expertise, and Isomorphic Labs, a company from DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, to identify new drug targets. - This deal reflects a larger trend in digital health fundraising, which saw a significant rebound in 2025, with U.S. startups raising $14.2 billion. Investment has concentrated on fewer, larger deals, with AI-enabled companies commanding a premium and accounting for 54% of total funding. - For consumer health startups, the use of AI for personalization is a key growth strategy, mirroring its application in drug discovery. AI is used in wearables and apps to analyze user data for personalized health monitoring, fitness coaching, and nutrition plans, which can enhance user engagement and retention. - The data generated by consumer health apps and wearables is not typically protected by HIPAA unless the app is provided by a covered entity like a doctor or insurance plan. This creates a complex data privacy landscape where consumer trust is built through transparent privacy policies rather than regulatory compliance alone. - The focus on longevity and "healthspan" is a growing sub-sector of both biotech and consumer wellness, attracting significant venture capital. Startups in this space are using AI to analyze biomarkers and develop interventions, from therapeutics to personalized nutrition, aligning with the biohacking ethos of using data to optimize health.
