Company

Approach

Most drug targets that fail do so late, after years of work and substantial investment, when effects observed in laboratory or animal models fail to translate to humans. Human genetic evidence offers a way to test that translation directly, revealing how a target is likely to behave in humans before a clinical program begins. AquilaGen exists because this evidence remains underused relative to its demonstrated value. We work to integrate genetic evidence systematically across the R&D cycle, from early target selection through to clinical development.

In practice, this means biotech teams can validate a target before committing years of R&D to it. Pharma teams can stress-test an asset before it absorbs further investment. Investors can de-risk a decision before capital is committed. And CROs can add genetics-grade evidence to the scientific case they deliver to their own clients. Importantly, we collaborate with academia and conduct our own scientific research, allowing us to stay at the forefront of methods and applications of causal inference and genetic epidemiology.

How? We have translated this expertise into a systematic, scalable process. We apply causal inference methods to large-scale genetic and health data, run through Mendelytics™, our proprietary analysis platform built around the paradigm of Mendelian randomization. The result is evidence that goes beyond asking whether a target is associated with disease, to answer the harder question: if you intervene on this target, what happens, to efficacy, to safety, to specific patient subgroups, and to outcomes well beyond the one a programme was originally designed for? We deliver this evidence directly into the decisions that matter, target selection, asset due diligence, and investment committees, in a form your team can act on.

Team

Our cross-disciplinary team brings together statistical genetics, AI/ML methods, data & software engineering, clinical medicine, and drug development expertise to systematically integrate causal human evidence across the life sciences ecosystem.

Marie-Joe-Dib
Marie-Joe Dib, PhD
Co-Founder – Scientific Lead
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Zen Zelenje, MSc
Co-Founder – Data & Commercial Lead
loukas-headshot
Loukas Zagkos, PhD
Platform Lead
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Christopher Bodimeade, MD
Clinical Translation Advisor

Use Cases

Whether you’re a biotech building a programme, a pharma team assessing an asset, an investor deciding whether to back a programme, or a CRO strengthening the evidence behind your client work, AquilaGen delivers the evidence layer specific to your question.

De-risking before committing capital

Independent due diligence on target biology, co-creation of new programmes with genetic foundations, and ongoing genetics support for portfolio companies.

Genetic evidence at every stage of your journey

Target identification, target validation before Series B/C, indication prioritization, building the genetic evidence package for investor decks and IND narratives.

Faster, better-informed decisions on targets and assets.

Due diligence on in-licensing targets, comparative evidence across competing assets, go/no-go on pipeline programs.

Extending your scientific offering

Add genetics-driven target validation to your preclinical and clinical workflows, strengthening the scientific case you deliver to pharma clients.

Advance drug target research

Independent causal analysis for hypothesis testing, methodological support for grant applications and postgraduate research, and training courses in causal inference methods.

Ask us about your targets

We'll bring the evidence Whether you have a specific asset in mind or want to understand how genetic intelligence could strengthen your program or portfolio – let’s talk.