Funnel Biosciences, a Beijing-based company describing itself as an AI-driven antibody and protein therapeutics business, announced a strategic research collaboration with Third Rock Ventures, the Boston healthcare venture firm. The collaboration applies Funnel’s epitope-guided AI antibody discovery platform to novel biologics against multiple targets nominated by Third Rock.
The economics need stating precisely, because the headline number is a ceiling, not a payment. Funnel will receive a platform access fee, the amount of which the companies did not disclose, and is eligible for total potential economics of up to approximately 2.16 billion dollars, subject to the applicable contractual conditions. Endpoints News reported the deal on November 9 as a bet of up to 2.16 billion dollars on a little-known Chinese biotech’s AI platform.
The structure is unusual in one respect: the counterparty is a venture firm rather than an operating drug company, so the targets will flow into companies Third Rock builds or backs. It is also a live example of the westbound licensing and platform flow out of China that United States policymakers are debating restricting, the same flow the BIO policy plan published today addresses from the competitiveness side. Whether any individual programme under the collaboration reaches the clinic will determine if the contingent figure means anything; platform deals of this shape routinely pay out a small fraction of their announced ceilings.