South San Francisco-based Twist Bioscience Corporation (Nasdaq: TWST) has joined Lilly TuneLab, Eli Lilly's collaborative AI/ML drug discovery platform, as a preferred antibody characterization data provider. Under the agreement, Twist will generate high-throughput wet lab antibody characterization data using TuneLab-specified protocols, with that data feeding into AbLab, Lilly's antibody developability prediction model. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Twist's role in the arrangement is as a data services provider rather than a drug development partner. TuneLab users can order antibody characterization services directly from Twist using preferred protocols, receiving standardized outputs compatible with AbLab's training requirements. The data also feeds back into TuneLab through federated learning, a privacy-preserving architecture in which model updates — but not raw proprietary data — are shared to improve predictive performance over time. Lilly launched TuneLab in September 2025, disclosing that its initial model release incorporated proprietary data generated through more than USD 1 billion in research investment.
The agreement extends Twist's existing presence in the TuneLab ecosystem, which has grown to more than 75 participating companies since launch. Other partners contributing to TuneLab's antibody-focused capabilities include San Mateo, California-based BigHat Biosciences, which is generating diverse antibody developability datasets using its Milliner platform to support a generalizable antibody foundation model. Schrödinger (Nasdaq: SDGR) has separately integrated TuneLab workflows into its LiveDesign enterprise informatics platform, and Japan-based Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners joined TuneLab in June 2026 as a contract research organization contributor.
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