Elix Provides AI Drug Discovery Platform “Elix Discovery™” to Eisai

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 17, 2025--

Elix, Inc. (CEO: Shinya Yuki / Headquarters: Tokyo; hereinafter “Elix”) is pleased to announce that its AI drug discovery platform, Elix Discovery™ ( https://www.elix-inc.com/platform/ ), has been adopted by Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo; hereinafter “Eisai”).

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250715531249/en/

Traditional drug discovery involves identifying promising compounds from vast numbers of candidates, which leads to long development timelines, high costs, and low success rates—major challenges in pharmaceutical R&D. The application of AI technologies to drug discovery is expected to address these challenges and dramatically improve the efficiency of the process. In particular, AI-driven molecular design and profile prediction enable efficient design of promising drug candidate compounds and narrowing down synthesis and evaluation targets, thereby accelerating the entire discovery process.

Elix is a Japan-based AI drug discovery company with a mission to "Rethinking drug discovery," providing services to pharmaceutical companies, universities, research institutions, and biotech startups. Our flagship AI software platform, Elix Discovery™, launched in 2022, was developed under the concept of “truly usable by medicinal chemists.” *¹

Elix Discovery™ features an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) that enables automatic construction of optimal compound profile predictive models. It includes advanced structure generation capabilities with the strength of proposing molecular structures that “humans would not conceive.” The platform allows for fast compound design by optimizing various parameters, including predictive models created on the GUI, through the use of carefully selected generative models including Elix’s proprietary models. It also supports Ligand-Based Drug Design (LBDD) and Structure-Based Drug Design (SBDD) methods, including docking simulations, offering users the flexibility to test a wide range of approaches.

In addition to providing this platform, Elix aims to contribute to the creation of innovative drug candidates through joint research projects with partner companies, leveraging its extensive experience and expertise in combination with the latest AI technologies. * 2 Notably, Elix Discovery™ offers plans that include multiple AI models trained using data from 16 pharmaceutical companies. For details, please refer to the July 15, 2025 press release. *³

Comment from Taro Terauchi, Head of Integrated Chemistry, Eisai

Eisai has been working to integrate the small-molecule drug-discovery expertise we have cultivated over many years with cutting-edge AI technology. We expect that the introduction of Elix Discovery™ will further accelerate this integration and drive major innovation in the drug-discovery process. Going forward, we will continue to advance AI-powered molecular design to deliver even greater value to patients.

Comment from Shinya Yuki, CEO of Elix

We are honored that Eisai, one of Japan’s leading pharmaceutical companies, has adopted our AI drug discovery platform, Elix Discovery™. Designed from the outset to maximize researchers’ capabilities on the concept that “medicinal chemists can truly use it,” we believe that the combination of our cutting-edge AI technology with Eisai’s extensive drug discovery expertise and exceptional research capabilities will accelerate the creation of innovative new medicines. We look forward to collaborating with Eisai to shape the future of drug discovery together.

References:

*¹ July 15, 2022 press release: “Elix launches “Elix Discovery™,” the only all-in-one platform that provides everything needed for AI drug discovery, from models for property prediction and molecular design to AI consulting and implementation support”
URL: https://www.elix-inc.com/news/newsrelease/1620/

*² April 15, 2025 press release: “Elix and PRISM BioLab Join Forces to Accelerate AI-Driven Drug Discovery for Challenging Protein-Protein Interaction Targets”
URL: https://www.elix-inc.com/news/news-release/2117/

*³ July 15, 2025 press release: “Elix and LINC Become the First in the World to Commercialize an AI Drug Discovery Platform Incorporating Federated Learning-Based AI Models Trained on Data from 16 Pharmaceutical Companies”
URL: https://www.elix-inc.com/news/news-release/2166/

About Eisai

Eisai’s Corporate Concept is “to give first thought to patients and people in the daily living domain, and to increase the benefits that health care provides.” Under this Concept (also known as our human health care ( hhc ) Concept), we aim to effectively achieve social good in the form of relieving anxiety over health and reducing health disparities. With a global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, we strive to create and deliver innovative products to target diseases with high unmet medical needs, with a particular focus in our strategic areas of Neurology and Oncology.
In addition, our continued commitment to the elimination of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), which is a target (3.3) of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is demonstrated by our work on various activities together with global partners.
For more information about Eisai, please visit www.eisai.com (for global headquarters: Eisai Co., Ltd.), and connect with us on X, LinkedIn and Facebook.

About Elix

Elix is an AI drug discovery company with a mission to “Rethinking drug discovery.” Visit https://www.elix-inc.com/ for more details. If your organization is interested in learning more about Elix Discovery™, please feel free to contact us via the details below.

Elix Discovery™ Image

California Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui advanced to the November ballot on Friday after facing a reelection challenge from a younger Democrat.

Matsui, 81, has been in Congress since she replaced her late husband, former Rep. Bob Matsui, in the Sacramento-based seat in 2005.

She faced a primary challenge from fellow Democrat Mai Vang, a member of the Sacramento City Council, and is one of several older Democrats challenged by younger insurgents this year. The second slot on the general election ballot has not yet been determined, but Vang issued a statement saying she was optimistic with the direction in which the count was moving.

“This is what people power looks like,” Vang said.

Matsui's campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

California’s primaries are helping set the stage for the fall battle for the House of Representatives and testing whether Democrats are able to add five potential pickups after they persuaded voters to let them redraw the electoral map last year.

The redistricting was sold as a countermeasure to Republican efforts to gain seats by reworking maps in states they control, including Texas.

Heading into Tuesday’s election, Democrats worried that California’s primary format, which sends the top two vote-getters to the general election regardless of party, could lead to them getting locked out of a seat they drew to their advantage in the San Diego’s suburbs.

That did not happen, as San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert advanced to face Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor.

Democrats are at risk of being shut out of another district they expected to pick up, in Sacramento’s suburbs — though the danger of that dimmed Friday as Democratic former state Sen. Richard Pan moved into the top two for the first time. Tens of thousands of more ballots remain to be tallied, and it is too soon to know who will make it to November.

Another redrawn district, which straddles Orange and Riverside counties in Southern California, favors Republicans. GOP Rep. Ken Calvert has advanced to the November election in the 40th District but does not yet know who his opponent will be. He had a bruising primary fight with fellow Republican Rep. Young Kim, whom Democrats drew into a new district that includes areas Calvert previously represented.

In San Francisco a wealthy progressive challenger was unable to crack the top two slots to fill retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s seat. Instead state Sen. Scott Wiener and San Francisco Supervisor Connie Chan will face off to replace the former House speaker.

And in the Central Valley, Republican Rep. David Valadao, widely considered one of the most vulnerable House Republicans, is waiting to see if he will face centrist Democrat and Assemblywoman Jasmeet Bains or progressive political science professor and school board member Randy Villegas in November.

Several races cannot be called yet because of California's typical drawn-out election count, in which mail ballots that tend to come from more Democratic areas are counted later, eroding conservatives' traditional leads in votes reported on election night.

Trump has previously seized on the count to baselessly alleged fraud and did so again Thursday, adding that his Justice Department would investigate the state over it. A federal prosecutor toured Los Angeles' main vote-counting facility on Friday.

Voters cast their ballots for the California primary election on Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif.. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Sacramento council member Mai Vang, who is running for Congress, speaks at her election night party in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday,, June 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., speaks during an election night event Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)