Mankind Pharma collaborates with Armenian Denovo Sciences for AI-led drug discovery programme

Domestic pharmaceutical major Mankind Pharma has joined hands with Armenian startup Denovo Sciences to launch an AI-led drug discovery programme.

The partnership will bring together Mankind’s R&D capabilities, experimental validation infrastructure, and clinical development expertise with Denovo Sciences’ proprietary platform for AI-driven molecular generation and prioritization. Together, both organisations will work under a human-in-the-loop model, where AI generates and evaluates molecular candidates while scientific experts guide, validate, and refine the results at every stage, Mankind said in a statement.

The collaboration is focused on three key goals: reducing early drug discovery timelines, improving the quality of lead candidates, and ensuring that only candidates with the strongest development potential move ahead. By using computational precision in the early stages of discovery, both partners aim to reduce the time and resources spent on candidates that may not succeed later. The long-term goal, as highlighted by both organisations, is to benefit patients as faster discovery cycles and better candidate selection can help bring differentiated, effective, and accessible therapies to patients sooner.

“Drug discovery has always been a long and uncertain journey, and that uncertainty has real consequences for patients. Our collaboration with Denovo Sciences is about using the best available technology to make this journey faster and more precise. AI gives us the ability to explore a much larger molecular space than traditional methods, while the human-in-the-loop model ensures that scientific rigour remains central to every decision. This is the kind of R&D investment we believe will shape Mankind Pharma’s next chapter,” said Arjun Juneja, COO, Mankind Pharma Ltd.

“Partnering with Mankind Pharma is a natural fit for what we have built at Denovo Sciences. Our platform is designed to work alongside experienced drug discovery experts to generate better candidates, faster. Mankind Pharma brings deep R&D expertise and a strong commitment to making medicines more accessible. Together, we are using our proprietary AI technologies where they can create the greatest impact at the earliest stage of the discovery process, where the right decisions save the most time,” said Hovakim Zakaryan, CEO, Denovo Sciences Inc.

For Mankind Pharma, this collaboration reflects a clear move beyond traditional drug discovery methods. For Denovo Sciences, it represents a significant step in applying its proprietary technologies at scale with a leading pharmaceutical partner.