AI-enabled pathology company PathAI has entered into a multiyear drug discovery partnership with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline.

The agreement will focus on advancing clinical trials and drug development in oncology and for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an aggressive type of fatty liver disease that can lead to serious scarring and liver failure. 

"Our partnership will combine GSK and PathAI’s AI and platform engineering teams to scale algorithm development and enable the discovery of new insights that can be rapidly integrated into clinical trials," PathAI CEO and cofounder Andrew Beck said in a statement.

"With our combined efforts, we aim to harness the power of machine learning to predict which patients will benefit from therapies in key high need areas."

WHY IT MATTERS

This isn't GSK's first deal with digital health and health tech startups. The company recently extended its drug discovery partnership with 23andMe until July 2023. That collaboration first began in 2018 when GSK poured $300 million into the consumer genetics company.

Last year, GSK also expanded its partnership with Viome Life Sciences to study the connection between the gut microbiome and some chronic diseases, like autoimmune disorders. Their collaboration began in 2019 with a focus on gut health's role in chronic disease prevention. 

GSK is pitching the latest agreement as another way for artificial intelligence to improve the drug discovery process.

"GSK’s world-leading AI/ML capability, including our dedicated in-house hub in London, is applying a predictive and data-driven approach to drug discovery and clinical trials with the aim of improving the success rates of new medicines.

"We look forward to leveraging both PathAI’s expertise and models to advance GSK’s proprietary AI models and focus on designing better models to deliver improved treatment options for patients with cancer and NASH," Kim Branson, SVP, global head of artificial intelligence and machine learning at GSK, said in a statement.

THE LARGER TREND

PathAI has also been scooping up partners to utilize its tech. In October, the startup entered into a strategic deal with pharma and diagnostics company Roche to develop and distribute its AI pathology tech through Roche’s uPath enterprise software, a workflow platform for labs.

Just last month, PathAI teamed up with the Cleveland Clinic to use its algorithms for clinical care and research.

Meanwhile, the pathology startup has had a busy year. In May 2021, it closed a $165 million Series C financing round, bringing its total raise to more than $255 million. It also acquired Poplar Healthcare Management to add lab testing services to its offerings.