Astellas Pharma has entered a strategic partnership with Autobahn Labs to accelerate the translation of academic research into novel drug discovery and development programs, strengthening its external innovation pipeline and access to early-stage therapeutic science. The Astellas Pharma and Autobahn Labs partnership gives Astellas Pharma integrated visibility into promising academic platforms, technologies and modalities emerging from Autobahn Labs’ translational research pipeline, spanning early discovery through development.
The collaboration provides Astellas Pharma’s Innovation Lab and Oncology Research units with an exclusive opportunity to invest in selected drug discovery programs created through Autobahn Labs’ venture studio model. These programs originate from leading academic institutions and are advanced through newly established Programme Companies. Equity interests in each Programme Company will be shared among Autobahn Labs, Astellas Pharma, the originating academic institution, and founding academic investigators. Astellas Pharma will also hold the right of first negotiation for an exclusive license to further develop and commercialize intellectual property arising from jointly funded programs. In parallel, Autobahn Labs will receive an annual access fee and co-investment from Astellas Pharma in startups formed under the partnership.
The partnership is structured to expand Astellas Pharma’s reach into high-potential, early-stage academic science while supporting Autobahn Labs’ model of building de-risked drug discovery programs. Autobahn Labs operates as a venture studio that partners with academic research centers to identify impactful scientific opportunities, design capital-efficient development plans, and generate decisive preclinical data in collaboration with industry partners. Its institutional collaborators include the University of California, Los Angeles; the University of California, San Francisco; the University of California, San Diego; the University of Southern California; Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; the University of Pennsylvania; Boston Children’s Hospital; the Salk Institute for Biological Studies; and the University of Michigan.
Autobahn Labs is backed by Samsara BioCapital and Charles River Laboratories International. Separately, Autobahn Labs and Charles River established a collaborative relationship under which Charles River serves as a preferred research partner supporting Autobahn’s growing pipeline of early-stage, preclinical therapeutics programs. That agreement provides Autobahn with access to Charles River’s drug discovery and development capabilities and includes an investment by Charles River alongside Samsara BioCapital. The partnership also expanded Autobahn’s governance, with Justin Bryans, chief scientific officer for discovery at Charles River, joining Autobahn Labs’ board of directors.
The Astellas Pharma and Autobahn Labs partnership aligns academic innovation with established drug development expertise. Dushyant Pathak, CEO of Autobahn Labs, said, “This exciting partnership combines the strengths of academic innovation with world-class drug development expertise. By combining Autobahn Labs’ deep academic relationships and search and evaluation capabilities with Astellas’ drug development expertise, our goal is to accelerate the translation of breakthrough discoveries into meaningful therapies for patients.” Morten Sogaard, head of Astellas Innovation Lab, added, “Astellas Pharma’s external innovation strategy is anchored in building strong partnerships with innovative academic leaders and ambitious start-ups to advance promising science with the potential to address high unmet patient needs.”
