Alnylam signed a three-year, up-to-$2 billion strategic collaboration with Inceptive Nucleics to apply AI foundation models to RNAi therapeutics discovery. The partnership follows Inceptive founder Jakob Uszkoreit’s background in AI research and centers on co-discovery work tied to preclinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones. The deal includes a $30 million upfront cash and equity commitment, with additional payments contingent on progress. Alnylam is expected to use Inceptive’s platform for agentic approaches to design and optimize RNAi therapeutics, aiming to accelerate iteration cycles in target and lead identification. The collaboration expands beyond pure computational support into a discovery-focused model, aligning platform development with execution against specific drug program milestones. For RNAi development, faster candidate optimization can translate into reduced time-to-clinic and improved hit-to-lead productivity. The agreement also signals how AI foundation-model vendors are moving from tooling to integrated discovery partners for therapeutics development.