Healthcare
DeepLife and 3billion Partner to Combine AI Virtual Cells and Genomics for New Drug Discovery
09 Nov 2026
The France-South Korea collaboration combines DeepLife's TwinCell AI platform with genomic insights from more than 110,000 individuals to identify new drug targets and develop potential treatments for rare and other diseases.
Paris and Seoul, 9 November 2026 – French biotechnology company DeepLife and South Korean AI-powered genomics company 3billion have announced a research and development partnership to identify new therapeutic targets and develop small-molecule drugs using artificial intelligence, virtual cell models and human genomic data.
The collaboration brings together DeepLife's TwinCell platform, which uses AI to model disease mechanisms at the cellular level, and 3billion's genomic research and AI-driven medicinal chemistry capabilities.
The companies aim to investigate genetic modifiers, genes that can influence whether a person develops a disease and how severely they are affected, even when individuals carry the same disease-causing mutation.
By combining information about genetic variation with computational models of human cells, the partners hope to identify previously unexplored drug targets and design compounds capable of influencing disease-related biological processes.
The partnership will initially support a programme focused on genetic modifier targets, with plans to expand into multiple therapeutic areas.
Combining Virtual Cell Technology With Human Genomic Data
DeepLife's TwinCell platform uses causal AI and single-cell multi-omics data to investigate the biological processes associated with disease.
Multi-omics research combines information from different biological measurements, including gene expression and molecular interactions, to help researchers understand how cells function.
According to DeepLife, TwinCell draws on more than 100 million harmonised single-cell omics data points to model regulatory and signalling networks associated with disease.
The platform is designed to identify molecular mechanisms that contribute to unhealthy cellular states and predict which biological targets could be modified to reverse them.
Under the new collaboration, DeepLife will combine these computational models with genomic insights from more than 110,000 individuals who have undergone genetic sequencing through 3billion.
The goal is to identify targets supported by both patient genetic evidence and predictions about disease mechanisms.
This approach could help researchers prioritise potential treatments before committing resources to laboratory experiments and further drug development.
Why Genetic Modifiers Could Open New Treatment Opportunities
Genetic modifiers are an important area of research because people carrying similar disease-causing mutations do not always experience the same symptoms.
Some individuals develop severe conditions, while others experience milder effects or remain unaffected.
These differences can sometimes be influenced by additional genetic variations that alter biological pathways associated with disease.
Studying these modifiers may reveal mechanisms that protect certain individuals from illness or reduce the severity of symptoms.
For drug developers, those mechanisms could offer new therapeutic targets, including in conditions where the primary disease-causing gene is difficult to target directly.
3billion specialises in analysing genomic information from people with rare diseases, providing a research foundation for investigating these differences.
The company will use its experience in genetic variant interpretation and target analysis to help identify modifiers that may be suitable for therapeutic intervention.
From AI-Identified Targets to Potential Drug Candidates
The partnership is designed to connect early biological discovery with the development of potential medicines.
DeepLife will use TwinCell to identify disease-related molecular pathways and generate hypotheses about therapeutic targets.
3billion will then help confirm and characterise selected targets, including examining whether proteins contain binding sites that could be used by drug molecules.
The company will also apply its AI-powered medicinal chemistry platform to design small-molecule compounds intended to interact with those targets.
Small-molecule medicines are generally designed to influence biological activity by binding to specific proteins or other molecular structures.
The companies are also interested in identifying allosteric binding pockets, regions of a protein where a molecule can influence its activity without necessarily binding to the protein's primary active site.
Such approaches may create possibilities for developing treatments against proteins previously considered difficult to target.
The partners aim to advance selected programmes through preclinical and investigational new drug (IND)-enabling development, with the longer-term objective of producing therapeutic assets suitable for pharmaceutical partnerships.
No specific drug candidate, clinical trial or approved treatment was announced as part of the collaboration.
DeepLife and 3billion Leaders Outline the Partnership
Jonathan Baptista, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of DeepLife, said the partnership will connect virtual cell modelling with drug design capabilities.
By combining that capability with 3billion's genomic data and AI-powered chemistry, we are creating a powerful new drug discovery platform capable of generating novel small molecule therapies against these novel targets,
Baptista said.
Changwon Keum, Chief Executive Officer of 3billion, explained that the collaboration builds on the company's experience in rare disease genetics.
Over the past decade, rare disease diagnostics has given 3billion a deep understanding of how genetic changes drive disease,
Keum said.
He added that combining this expertise with DeepLife's models could support research into therapeutic targets that have been difficult to address through conventional approaches.
Pavel Printsev, Chief Business Development Officer at 3billion, also highlighted the value of examining how genetic modifiers influence biological processes within diseased cells.
The companies believe that linking patient genomic information to cellular models will help researchers understand which targets are worth pursuing and how candidate molecules might affect disease mechanisms.
AI Drug Discovery and the Future of Rare Disease Research
Rare diseases present difficulties for pharmaceutical research because patient populations can be small, disease mechanisms may be poorly understood and suitable treatment targets are often difficult to identify.
Genomic sequencing has improved researchers' ability to identify genetic variations associated with these conditions, but translating those findings into effective medicines remains a demanding process.
AI-powered modelling may help narrow the range of biological targets requiring investigation, allowing researchers to focus laboratory resources on hypotheses supported by several forms of evidence.
DeepLife and 3billion's collaboration aims to connect these stages, moving from patient genetic observations to computational analysis and eventually the design of potential drug candidates.
However, predictions generated by AI systems still require experimental validation. Candidate compounds must also undergo testing for biological activity, safety and effectiveness before they can progress towards clinical development.
The partnership therefore represents an early-stage drug discovery initiative rather than an announcement of a treatment ready for patients.
By combining virtual cell technology with human genomic data, the two companies hope to establish a research approach that can be applied across several diseases and support future pharmaceutical development programmes.
About DeepLife
DeepLife is a Paris-based biotechnology company founded in 2019 by Jonathan Baptista and Jean-Baptiste Morlot.
The company develops AI-powered virtual cell models to investigate disease mechanisms, identify therapeutic targets and support drug discovery.
Its TwinCell platform combines single-cell multi-omics data with causal modelling to examine how biological pathways influence disease.
Official website: https://www.deeplife.co/
About 3billion
3billion is a South Korean AI-powered genomics company founded in 2016, specialising in rare disease diagnostics and drug discovery.
The company has delivered genetic testing results to more than 110,000 individuals and serves over 2,000 healthcare professionals across more than 80 countries, according to its announcement.
Its capabilities include whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing, AI-assisted genetic variant interpretation, therapeutic target identification and computational drug design.
Official website: https://www.3billion.io/
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Sara Srifi
Sara is a Software Engineering and Business student with a passion for astronomy, cultural studies, and human-centered storytelling. She explores the quiet intersections between science, identity, and imagination, reflecting on how space, art, and society shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us. Her writing draws on curiosity and lived experience to bridge disciplines and spark dialogue across cultures.
