• As part of the agreement, Biogen will leverage Envisagenics’ AI platform with the goal of better understanding Central Nervous System diseases

Biogen Inc. (Nasdaq: BIIB) and Envisagenics today announced a new collaboration to advance ribonucleic acid (RNA) splicing research within central nervous system (CNS) diseases. As part of the collaboration, Biogen will leverage Envisagenics’ proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-driven RNA splicing platform, SpliceCore^®, to define and understand the regulation of different RNA isoforms in CNS cell types.

Genetic information encoded in the human chromosome is converted into RNA molecules which is then used as the template to make proteins. RNA splicing is the process that trims out extra information embedded in the intermediate RNA molecules, and this trimmed RNA is what is then used to produce functional proteins.

“Since Biogen’s earliest days, RNA splicing has been an integral part of our history and mission dating back to co-founder Phillip Sharp’s discovery of the process in 1977,” said Alfred Sandrock, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., head of research and development at Biogen. “By combining Envisagenics’ SpliceCore platform with our deep expertise in this scientific approach, we believe that Biogen will be able to advance our understanding of RNA splicing and potentially identify new drug targets for CNS diseases.”

“Envisagenics is thrilled to work with Biogen because we share a commitment to identifying potential treatments for CNS diseases through innovative AI technology like the SpliceCore platform. Envisagenics and Bi…