MapLight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) and SandboxAQ announced a strategic collaboration aimed at discovering and developing first-in-class treatments for central nervous system disorders by targeting a newly identified G-protein-coupled receptor.
The agreement, unveiled Dec. 16, combines MapLight’s neuroscience and GPCR discovery capabilities with SandboxAQ’s large-scale AI models and AQBioSim quantum-inspired molecular simulation technology to accelerate early-stage drug design.
SandboxAQ received an upfront payment and could earn as much as $200 million in preclinical, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones tied to the success of collaboration compounds.
MapLight will retain exclusive rights to advance any candidates into clinical studies and ultimately commercialize them.
The companies said the partnership is designed to shorten design–make–test–analyze cycles by applying high-resolution molecular simulation to complex GPCR biology, potentially unlocking new therapeutic mechanisms for challenging CNS conditions where traditional drug discovery has repeatedly fallen short.