Chai Discovery partners with Roche to apply AI drug design across its pipeline

What's the deal? Chai Discovery, a San Francisco-based company using artificial intelligence (AI) to design protein-based medicines, announced on 5 November 2026 a collaboration with Roche to apply Chai's AI models and platform across a number of Roche drug discovery programmes. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Why it matters: Chai builds AI models that predict the three-dimensional structure and behaviour of proteins — the molecular machines that most medicines act on — so researchers can design new therapeutics in software rather than finding them through trial and error. Its latest model, Chai-3, is designed to reach difficult targets that conventional discovery methods have struggled to address. The collaboration is the latest in a series of deals Chai has signed with major pharmaceutical companies in 2026, including GSK and Eli Lilly, and extends the use of its platform in early drug discovery. Chai was founded in 2024 by a team with backgrounds at OpenAI, Meta FAIR and Stripe, and is backed by Index Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, General Catalyst, OpenAI, Thrive Capital and Menlo Ventures.

Read more: Business Wire, 5 November 2026