Novartis signed a strategic collaboration with UK AI‑driven biotech Relation Therapeutics to discover and advance drug targets for atopic diseases, with up to $1.7 billion in preclinical, development and commercial milestones plus upfronts and equity. Relation will lead Lab‑in‑the‑Loop discovery, combining AI with patient‑derived multiomic data and experimental systems; Novartis gains worldwide rights to resulting assets. Relation received $55 million in upfront R&D funding and equity; the companies will generate functional cell atlases from patient tissues to validate causal genes. Relation’s CEO described the tie‑up as complementary — Relation’s causal, data‑driven target ID coupled with Novartis’ immuno‑dermatology development capability. The multi‑program pact exemplifies Big Pharma leveraging AI-enabled functional genomics startups to accelerate target discovery and de‑risk early development in immune‑mediated diseases.