The partnership will also seek to advance promising initial scientific discoveries through the preliminary steps of drug discovery and development. Autobahn Labs will invest up to $5 million per project for Salk discoveries that require access to drug development expertise and state-of-the-art capabilities.

“The strategic and operational support provided by Autobahn Labs will allow us to move forward at an accelerated pace to translate scientific discoveries into new therapeutics,” says Salk President Gerald Joyce. “The beauty of this collaboration is that the most promising findings across different areas of research at Salk will have the opportunity to move from the bench to the development of clinical drug candidates. We hope that this collaboration will lead to new therapeutic options for many areas of unmet medical need.”

Autobahn Labs invests earlier than traditional venture financing models, providing intellectual, financial, and physical capital to advance new scientific discoveries, from novel concept to preclinical drug candidate, with the goal of creating companies foundationally enabled by Salk science. As an added benefit, Salk trainees will have opportunities to learn about the processes of drug discovery, development, and commercialization.