REHOVOT & TEL AVIV, Israel, July 8, 2026
Evogene Ltd. and Tel Aviv University’s Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery (BCDD) have announced a strategic initiative to accelerate AI-driven small-molecule drug discovery, creating a collaborative framework designed to transform promising academic research into commercially viable therapeutic candidates. Facilitated by Ramot, Tel Aviv University’s technology transfer company, the collaboration combines Evogene’s proprietary ChemPass AI™ computational chemistry platform with BCDD’s world-class experimental drug discovery infrastructure to support researchers and scientific entrepreneurs developing innovative therapies. The partnership aims to overcome one of the most significant barriers in pharmaceutical innovation by integrating artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, and translational drug discovery into a unified development pathway. By bridging the gap between early biological discoveries and candidate drug development, the initiative is expected to accelerate the identification, optimization, and validation of novel small-molecule therapeutics while reducing early-stage development risk and improving the probability of clinical and commercial success. The collaboration also reinforces Israel’s growing position as a global hub for biotechnology innovation and AI-enabled pharmaceutical research.
AI-Powered Drug Discovery Platform Integrates Design and Experimental Validation
At the core of the collaboration is a comprehensive Design-Make-Test-Analyze (DMTA) workflow, bringing together Evogene’s ChemPass AI™ generative computational chemistry engine with the advanced experimental capabilities of the Blavatnik Center for Drug Discovery. Under the initiative, promising projects originating from Israeli academic institutions and biotechnology entrepreneurs will be jointly evaluated for development. Evogene’s AI platform will generate and optimize novel small-molecule drug candidates across multiple critical pharmaceutical parameters, while BCDD will provide experimental screening, biological validation, medicinal chemistry expertise, and translational development support.
This integrated workflow enables researchers to rapidly translate biological insights into optimized therapeutic candidates using a coordinated combination of artificial intelligence, computational chemistry, laboratory validation, and drug discovery expertise. By eliminating the fragmented approach traditionally required for early-stage drug development, the partnership seeks to significantly reduce development timelines, improve decision-making efficiency, and increase the likelihood of successfully advancing innovative therapies toward clinical development.
Strategic Collaboration Strengthens Israel’s Pharmaceutical Innovation Ecosystem
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Small-molecule therapeutics remain one of the most important foundations of modern pharmaceutical development, yet many promising academic discoveries fail to progress due to limited access to integrated computational and experimental drug discovery resources. The new collaboration directly addresses this challenge by providing researchers with access to both state-of-the-art AI-enabled molecular design technology and world-class translational drug discovery infrastructure within a unified development framework. Company executives emphasized that the initiative is particularly valuable for investigators working on complex protein targets, molecular glues, and novel biological mechanisms that require sophisticated computational chemistry and experimental optimization.
The collaboration also expands Evogene’s pipeline of potential pharmaceutical opportunities while enabling academic innovators to transform breakthrough scientific discoveries into commercially viable therapeutic programs. BCDD, established to accelerate translational medical research, will complement Evogene’s expertise in generative AI, computational chemistry, and molecular optimization to create an end-to-end platform supporting pharmaceutical innovation from target identification through lead optimization. As artificial intelligence continues transforming drug discovery worldwide, the partnership positions Evogene and Tel Aviv University at the forefront of next-generation pharmaceutical research, accelerating precision drug development, improving early-stage success rates, and strengthening the translation of academic science into future medicines that address significant unmet medical needs.
Source: Evogene press release
