Nxera Joins OpenFold AI Research Consortium Alongside Leading Global Pharmaceutical and AI Companies to Accelerate AI-enabled Drug Discovery
Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK, 10 June 2026 – Nxera Pharma Co., Ltd. (“Nxera” or the “Company”) announces that it has joined OpenFold, a non-profit AI research consortium that promotes the development of open-source AI software tools for biology and drug discovery. Technology companies, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and NVIDIA, participate in OpenFold as supporting members and the consortium has expanded into an international ecosystem comprising numerous pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, technology companies and academic institutions, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Bayer and Roche.
OpenFold’s mission is provide researchers from academia and industry with access to powerful AI-enabled tools to create the medicines of tomorrow, to accelerate basic biological research, and bring new cures to market that would be impossible to discover without AI.
Nxera’s participation in OpenFold is aligned with the Company’s policy to enhance R&D productivity and business efficiency through the use of AI technologies, as presented at the Company’s 36th Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders held on 25 March 2026. Nxera’s proprietary NxWave™ platform combines the Company’s long-standing expertise in GPCR structure-based drug discovery, proprietary data, computational chemistry and AI-enabled approaches to advance drug discovery research.
Through its participation in the OpenFold Consortium, Nxera aims to:
- Create synergies with Nxera’s AI-driven computational chemistry and quantum-inspired biophysical approaches to accelerate progress from target validation and discovery to clinical development with highly differentiated and optimized candidates
- Continuously use and evaluate state-of-the-art open-source structural prediction models, including OpenFold and OpenFold3-preview
- Conduct GPCR target-focused performance evaluations and benchmarking through its computational chemistry team
- Contribute to future research and development directions through consortium governance meetings and receive technical support
Nxera is participating in the consortium as a user of its open-source tools and is not required to contribute any proprietary data or intellectual property to the consortium.
Patrik Foerch, Nxera’s Chief Scientific Officer and President of Nxera Pharma UK, commented: “Our participation in the OpenFold Consortium is highly aligned with the core design philosophy of the NxWave™ platform: the integration of structural biology, computational chemistry and AI. Access to an ecosystem that advances open-source AI drug discovery alongside world-class pharmaceutical companies and research institutions will further strengthen our AI-enabled drug discovery capabilities for GPCRs, a medically important and challenging target class. This initiative forms part of our broader strategy to improve R&D productivity and advance rapidly from target to clinical development with highly differentiated and optimized molecules, as we work towards achieving our 2030 vision.”
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About Nxera Pharma
Nxera Pharma is a technology powered biopharma company in pursuit of new specialty medicines to improve the lives of patients with unmet needs in Japan and globally. The Company has built an agile, new-generation commercial business in Japan to develop and commercialize innovative medicines, including several launched products, to address this high-value, large and growing market and those in the broader APAC region. In addition, the Company is advancing an extensive pipeline internally and in partnership with leading pharma and biotech companies powered by its unique NxWave™ GPCR structure-based drug discovery platform. Nxera Pharma operates at key locations in Tokyo and Osaka (Japan), London and Cambridge (UK), Basel (Switzerland) and Seoul (South Korea) and is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker: 4565).
For more information, please visit www.nxera.life
LinkedIn: @NxeraPharma | X: @NxeraPharma | YouTube: @NxeraPharma
Enquiries:
Nxera – Media and Investor Relations
Shinya Tsuzuki, VP, Head of Investor Relations
Maya Bennison, Communications Manager
+81 (0)3 5210 3399 | +44 (0)1223 949390 |IR@Nxera.life
MEDiSTRAVA (for International Media)
Mark Swallow, Frazer Hall, Erica Hollingsworth
+44 (0)203 928 6900 | Nxera@medistrava.com
Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development, and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Nxera Pharma Group’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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