# AstraZeneca and insitro agree AI drug-target deal for liver and heart disease

Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/stories/astrazeneca-and-insitro-agree-ai-drug-target-deal-for-liver-and-heart-4a0a39a6
Date: 15 Oct 2026
About: [insitro](https://technooptimist.io/companies/insitro.md) · [ML-driven target discovery](https://technooptimist.io/biotech/insitro-platform.md)
Original source: https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2026/astrazeneca-announces-new-strategic-collaboration-with-insitro-for-difficult-to-treat-cardiometabolic-diseases.html

AstraZeneca and insitro signed a drug-discovery and licensing collaboration to find new targets for MASH, a severe liver disease, and for cardiomyopathies, diseases with few effective therapies. insitro will use its Virtual Human platform to identify the causal biology of both and move AstraZeneca-nominated targets to development candidates. AstraZeneca then runs and funds the clinical trials.

## Key facts

- insitro receives a $40 million upfront payment.
- insitro is eligible for up to approximately $1.46 billion in development and commercial milestones, plus potential single-digit royalties on global commercial sales.
- AstraZeneca gets exclusive worldwide rights to advance selected programs identified in the collaboration, not every program it produces.
- The milestone and royalty figures are described as potential and contingent; the announcement gives no timeline for them.
- The platform combines large-scale human and cellular data with AI-enabled target identification and medicine design, according to the announcement; AstraZeneca contributes clinical development and regulatory expertise.

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