QurieGen and Rayca Precision redefine drug discovery by connecting novel target discovery with AI-powered drug design
QurieGen and Rayca Precision redefine drug discovery by connecting novel target discovery with AI-powered drug design
QurieGen and Rayca Precision connect target discovery, molecular design, and cellular validation to support earlier, evidence-based drug R&D decisions.
Quriegen developed a time-resolved, single-cell multi-omics platform. Together with Rayca, we can use these insights to validate novel drug targets and guide the design of new drug candidates.”
NIJMEGEN, NETHERLANDS, November 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- QurieGen and Rayca Precision today announced a strategic partnership introducing an integrated drug discovery workflow for pharmaceutical R&D. The companies also published a joint white paper describing the approach.— Kinga Matuła, CEO at Quriegen
Drug development remains heavily focused on established targets, while insufficient efficacy remains a major reason drug candidates fail in clinical development. Discovering new targets and understanding how drugs affect disease biology remain major industry challenges, particularly when target discovery, molecular design, and experimental validation are treated as separate stages.
QurieGen and Rayca Precision aim to bridge this gap by connecting these capabilities in an iterative workflow, where biological insights guide molecular design and test how drug candidates affect disease-relevant cells.
The process starts with QurieGen investigating disease biology and identifying potential drug targets using its proprietary time-resolved single-cell multi-omics platform. By measuring gene expression, surface and intracellular proteins, and protein signaling activity (phosphoproteins) in individual cells over time, QurieGen reveals how cells respond to different perturbations, which pathways are affected, and which mechanisms remain active despite treatment. These findings provide functional evidence for target prioritization and validation, helping establish not only which proteins to target, but what biological effect a drug should achieve.
Rayca Precision uses these biological findings to guide molecular design. Rather than relying on a single static protein structure, Rayca models how proteins move and change shape identifying potential binding sites, including temporarily accessible ones. Combining AI with physics-based simulations, Rayca designs and prioritizes molecules aligned with the biological hypothesis, whether the intended effect involves protein inhibition, degradation, or another cellular response.
Selected molecules are synthesized by the drug developer or an agreed partner and tested by QurieGen in disease-relevant cellular models. QurieGen measures molecular and cellular changes to determine whether a molecule produces the intended biological response and to investigate its mechanism of action.
When results differ from expectations, the data can help distinguish problems with the target, proposed mechanism, or molecule. Those findings feed back into Rayca's next design cycle.
This continuous feedback loop aims to reduce uncertainty before critical R&D decisions. It can also support difficult-to-target proteins, treatment-resistance investigations, and reconstruction of drug mechanisms of action.
“Biology is not static. To understand disease mechanisms and how drugs work, we need to capture how cells respond over time, rather than rely on snapshots and focus on the actionable layers,” said Kinga Matuła, CEO and co-founder of QurieGen. “Together with Rayca, we can use these insights to discover and validate novel drug targets, understand complex mechanisms of action, and guide the design of new drug candidates.”
“QurieGen shows how individual cells respond to treatment, adding an important biological dimension to molecular design,” said Pouya Behrouzi, CEO and co-founder of Rayca Precision. “This partnership connects target discovery with molecular design and experimental validation, strengthening the evidence behind critical R&D decisions.”
A pilot begins with one biological question, a disease area, and agreed constraints. No large proprietary dataset is required upfront, and the drug developer retains decision-making authority over what advances, changes direction, or stops. QurieGen and Rayca Precision are inviting pharmaceutical and biotech R&D teams to discuss pilot projects. QurieGen will attend BIO-Europe in Cologne from November 9 and is available for partnering meetings.The offering focuses on early discovery and does not replace the safety testing, development work, or clinical trials required to establish whether a medicine benefits patients.
About QurieGen
QurieGen is a Dutch TechBio company developing virtual cell models for drug discovery. It combines proprietary single-cell multi-omics, biological data, and causal AI to enable target discovery, validation, and investigation of disease biology.
www.quriegen.com
About Rayca Precision
Rayca Precision builds molecular intelligence for drug design, combining program data, physics-based simulation, and generative methods to model target states and design candidate molecules.
www.raycabio.com
Media and partnership inquiries
QurieGen: Kinga Matuła | CEO and founder | kinga@quriegen.com
Rayca Precision: Pouya Behrouzi | CEO and co-founder | pouya@raycabio.com
Read the joint white paper:
https://2fhv70.share-eu1.hsforms.com/2Kj4uEfDvTXK-9f-O2CVPWg
Pouya Behrouzi
Rayca Precision
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
