La Jolla Institute for Immunology and RevolKa started a Research Collaboration

LJI and RevolKa will Research Nex-gen Vaccine Antigens by using AI-driven Protein Engineering Platform

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- RevolKa Ltd. (Norio Hamamatsu, President & CEO), a venture-backed biotech company providing a game-changing protein engineering technology platform and La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) (Erica Saphire, President & CEO) agreed to start a research collaboration to create antigens for the next-generation vaccines to deliver innovative solutions to unmet medical need in infectious diseases. RevolKa has a robust directed protein evolution technology integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), called aiProtein®. LJI and RevolKa will synergize LJI’s deep knowledge of immunology and RevolKa’s power of AI-driven protein engineering. Details of this collaboration and financial terms were not disclosed.

About aiProtein® Technology

RevolKa’s proprietary technology, aiProtein® is an AI-assisted directed evolution of proteins. Naturally occurring protein is a linear polymer of amino acids and their derivatives, which folds into a tertial structure through internal complex atomic interactions to show biological function. Proteins have evolved to biologically functional molecules over hundreds of millions of years. The relationship between protein sequence, structure, and function in those highly functioned molecules remains poorly understood to rationally design a protein sequence for a particular function. Our AI engine is trained with sequence-function relationship data to statistically predict sequences for an evolved protein function. Furthermore, aiProtein® can evolve more than two functions simultaneously. This technology is a powerful and cost-effective tool for the creation of novel and highly-optimized proteins for pharmaceutical and industrial uses.

About RevolKa Ltd.

RevolKa is a venture-backed biotechnology company founded in April 2021 by academic and industry experts in biotechnology and artificial intelligence. Our mission is to create novel proteins useful for therapeutics and industries by using our own proprietary technology platform, aiProtein® to contribute to human well-being. The name “RevolKa” is derived from the Latin word for evolution, “evolutio” and the Ainu (an indigenous Japanese people) word for raise, “reska”. RevolKa’s headquarters are located in Tokyo, Japan with laboratories located in Sendai. The company’s investors include D3 LLC, DEEPCORE Inc., Tohoku University Venture Partners, and SBI investment Co., Ltd. For more information, visit https://www.revolka.com/en/.

About La Jolla Institute for Immunology

The La Jolla Institute for Immunology is dedicated to understanding the intricacies and power of the immune system to that we may apply to that knowledge to promote human health and prevent a wide range of diseases. Since its founding in 1988 as an independent, nonprofit research organization, the Institute has made numerous advances leading towards its goal: Life without Disease®. For more information, visit https://www.lji.org/.

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