Enamine Joins Agora Open Science Trust and Variational AI to Advance Open-Science Discovery of PRMT6 Inhibitors

KYIV, UKRAINE, March 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Enamine, a leading integrated drug discovery contract research organization (CRO) has today announced its participation in an open-science collaboration with Variational AI and the Agora Open Science Trust. This initiative aims to advance the discovery of novel small-molecule inhibitors targeting PRMT6, which is a therapeutic target implicated in Spinal and Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), a rare neuromuscular disorder currently lacking approved treatments that slow or halt the progression of the disease.

The initiative brings together expertise in medicinal chemistry, generative artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, structural biology, pharmacology, and preclinical development across a global network of partners, including the Structural Genomics Consortium (SGC), the University Health Network (UHN) (https://www.uhn.ca/), the University of Oxford (https://www.ox.ac.uk/), the Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) (https://www.vimm.it/en/), and Charles River Laboratories (https://www.criver.com/). In keeping with Agora’s open science principles, all data generated through the project, including molecular structures, assay results, and progress updates, will be made publicly available.

𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧-𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

The collaboration operates within a fully transparent 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧–𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞–𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭–𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞 (𝐃𝐌𝐓𝐀) framework that integrates AI-driven molecular design, rapid compound synthesis, and biological testing. Variational AI applies its 𝐄𝐧𝐤𝐢™ generative AI platform to design novel PRMT6 inhibitor scaffolds and discover lead candidates.

To ensure rapid execution and reduce downstream attrition, the initial Enki™ generation is constrained to 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐱𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋, the world’s largest synthetically validated chemical space. By embedding synthetic feasibility directly into the design process, the collaboration emphasizes speed, learning, and iteration.

“This collaboration demonstrates how early discovery can move faster when generative AI is paired with synthetically validated chemical space. Enamine’s xREAL Space enables the DMTA cycle to operate as intended — transforming the make step from a bottleneck into a strategic engine for rapid iteration, accelerating the identification of a novel PRMT6 inhibitor series.”
— 𝐈𝐫𝐲𝐧𝐚 𝐈𝐚𝐯𝐧𝐢𝐮𝐤, 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐔𝐒 𝐈𝐧𝐜.

“By coupling Enki’s generative design capabilities with Enamine’s synthetically validated REAL/xREAL space, we dramatically improved the design step of the DMTA cycle, allowing the program to rapidly identify and validate additional PRMT6 inhibitor series.”
— 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐥 𝐊𝐢𝐦, 𝐂𝐄𝐎, 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐈

“This collaboration reflects a highly transparent and collaborative approach to rare disease drug discovery. By partnering with industry leaders such as Variational AI and Enamine, we can combine advanced AI-driven molecular design with world-class chemistry capabilities to accelerate the discovery of PRMT6 inhibitors for SBMA and expand therapeutic opportunities for this underserved disease.”
— 𝐃𝐫. 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐫𝐮𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭

𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞’𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐌𝐓𝐀 𝐂𝐲𝐜𝐥𝐞

Within the partnership, Enamine contributes its expertise in the ‘𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞’ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐌𝐓𝐀, which is often the primary bottleneck in early discovery programs. Enamine’s contributions include:
• Access to synthetically validated chemical space
• Rapid synthesis of novel compounds
• Iterative SAR exploration through analog and scaffold-based synthesis

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞
Enamine Ltd., headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a scientifically driven integrated drug discovery contract research organization (CRO). Enamine maintains the world’s largest and most reputable collections of building blocks (over 350,000), screening compounds (over 4.7 million), and a vast database of synthetically feasible chemical structures — 𝐄𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞. The company offers an extensive portfolio of expertly designed libraries for hit discovery, including Diversity, Fragment, Covalent, Bioactive, and Targeted Libraries, and delivers fully integrated discovery services spanning advanced organic synthesis, library synthesis, medicinal chemistry, high-throughput screening (HTS), and preclinical biology to support life sciences and pharmaceutical research worldwide. For more information, please visit www.enamine.net

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐈
Variational AI is a generative AI drug discovery company redefining the unit economics of small-molecule drug discovery and development. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Variational AI has developed Enki™, a proprietary generative AI foundation model that designs novel, optimized small-molecule drug candidates with improved potency, selectivity, and synthesizability to help partners accelerate early discovery and lead optimization. The company’s multidisciplinary team of machine learning and drug discovery experts aims to transform how transformative therapeutics are discovered by leveraging state-of-the-art generative AI. For more information, please visit www.variational.ai

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐀𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐚 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭
Agora Open Science Trust is a Canadian charity whose mission is to accelerate the discovery and development of affordable new medicines through open science. Agora’s first initiative – M4K Pharma (‘Medicines for Kids’) – is using open science to drive preclinical and clinical development of a novel ALK2 inhibitor for the treatment of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare pediatric brain cancer. Agora’s pipeline of collaborative open science drug discovery programs has recently expanded to include programs for Spinal Bulbar Muscular Atrophy (SBMA), a rare genetic neuromuscular disorder, and Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC), a rare liver disease — both of which currently have no approved treatment.

Agora continues to welcome collaborative funding partners whose support will help advance M4K2009 into clinical evaluation and sustain its mission to develop affordable medicines through open science.
You can support its mission at https://www.agoraopensciencetrust.org/donate-to-our-mission

Oleksii Gavrylenko
Enamine Ltd
email us here

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