USC announces strategic collaboration with Autobahn Labs to accelerate drug discovery

USC has embarked on a collaboration with Autobahn Labs, an accelerator for early-stage drug discovery, to identify and advance cutting-edge scientific findings into new therapies - with a special focus on critical unmet medical needs.

“Our collaboration with Autobahn Labs is a pivotal moment for our institution’s mission to bring academic innovations in drug discovery to market,” said Erin Overstreet, PhD, executive director of the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, which manages a broad portfolio of university-owned intellectual property. “By leveraging USC’s scientific expertise and Autobahn’s drug discovery capabilities, we are accelerating the development of novel therapeutics that address critical medical needs and improve patient outcomes,” she said.

Autobahn Labs, founded in 2019, partners with leading research institutions to accelerate the advancement of novel science into transformational therapies. They invest intellectual and financial capital, applying a proven framework to efficiently move projects from hypothesis to drug candidates.

As part of the agreement with USC, Autobahn will invest up to $5 million per selected project to support the development of new pharmaceuticals.

“We are looking forward to working with USC, our newest academic collaborator, to expand our reach as we aim to identify and translate the best of academic biotech,” said Brendan M. O’Leary, PhD, CEO of Autobahn Labs. “The high-quality research at USC provides a compelling opportunity to identify tomorrow’s breakthrough drug discoveries.”

A high-impact collaboration

MESH Strategic Partnerships at the Keck School of Medicine of USC will support the collaboration by serving as the central point of contact, facilitating connections between researchers and ensuring rigorous project review. MESH, a specialized service that focuses on building and sustaining relationships between USC and industry groups, also supports the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Center for Cancer Drug Development at USC Norris, which prepares projects to reach key development milestones, positioning them for engagement with collaborators like Autobahn Labs.

“Our strategic alignment with Autobahn is a significant step forward in advancing research, not only in oncology but across various disease areas,” said Vasiliki Anest, PhD, chief innovation officer at the Keck School of Medicine and head of MESH. “This collaboration ensures that groundbreaking research at USC has a clear and efficient path from the lab to the clinic, bringing life-changing therapies to patients who are waiting for innovative solutions.”

Key to the successful resourcing of these programs are Autobahn Labs’ partners, Samsara BioCapital, a leading life sciences investment firm, and Charles River Laboratories, which provides products and services that help life science companies, government agencies and academic institutions accelerate their research and drug development efforts.

Together, USC and Autobahn Labs aim to identify promising early-stage scientific findings and transform them into therapies for conditions with significant unmet needs, from cancer to cardiovascular disease. Selected proposals will receive funding to advance and de-risk novel drug discovery programs, leveraging state-of-the-art technology to drive these projects forward to the clinic.

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