Lunai Bioworks' (NASDAQ:LNAI) wholly owned subsidiary BioSymetrics and BrainStorm Therapeutics today announced a strategic collaboration and Letter of Intent (LOI) to jointly discover, validate, and advance novel therapeutic targets for neurological diseases. The collaboration is supported by a newly awarded grant from the LouLou Foundation.

The collaboration combines BioSymetrics' AI-driven target discovery and in vivo zebrafish validation platform with BrainStorm Therapeutics' proprietary human-derived organoid systems to create an integrated translational engine for neurology drug discovery. The companies intend to generate high-confidence therapeutic programs designed for pharmaceutical partnering, licensing, and downstream development.

The collaboration is aligned with emerging FDA guidance encouraging adoption of innovative new approach methodologies (NAMs) that improve human translational relevance and reduce dependence on traditional mammalian animal models in drug development. Initial efforts will focus on rare genetic epilepsies and neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease.

As part of the collaboration, the companies are integrating BrainStorm's Parkinson's disease midbrain organoid foundation model with BioSymetrics' proprietary analysis of the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) dataset, to identify progression-associated biomarkers and high-confidence therapeutically actionable targets. The program is intended to support precision medicine strategies and accelerate the development of differentiated CNS therapeutics.

In a flagship program under the collaboration, BioSymetrics and Brainstorm Therapeutics, together with Dr. Calum MacRae at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, have received funding from the LouLou Foundation to identify and advance novel therapeutic approaches for a rare genetic epilepsy. The initiative is expected to generate mechanistic insights, biological validation data, and development-stage assets while establishing a scalable framework for future neurology programs.

Concurrently, the companies have entered into a Letter of Intent to expand the collaboration across additional neurological indications. The LOI outlines a structured framework to:

  • ⁠Identify and prioritize therapeutic targets using integrated computational, organoid, and in vivo discovery approaches
  • ⁠Rapidly validate targets across complementary biological systems
  • Advance differentiated programs supported by mechanistic rationale and translational validation data
  • ⁠Engage pharmaceutical partners, strategic collaborators, and investors around selected development opportunities

The collaboration is designed to efficiently progress programs from discovery through translational validation and external partnering, with the goal of creating multiple value-generating opportunities across the neurology pipeline.