An AI-designed obesity drug has found a commercial partner in China. MindRank AI Ltd., based in Hangzhou, is handing the mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau rights for MDR-001 to two subsidiaries of 3SBio Inc., Zhejiang Sunshine Mandi Pharmaceutical and Zhejiang Wansheng Pharmaceutical, which will run exclusive commercialization once regulators clear the medicine.
The deal carries a total potential value of RMB 1.75B, roughly $260M, bundling an RMB 150M upfront payment with milestones tied to clinical development, regulatory approval and sales.
On the clinical side, MindRank keeps its role as Marketing Authorization Holder and retains all intellectual property, while development, registration, manufacturing and supply stay under its own roof.
The candidate is an oral small molecule aimed at the GLP-1 receptor, and it has advanced into a pivotal Phase 3 trial in China, where the study is testing it against obesity and overweight. MindRank built MDR-001 with its proprietary Molecule Arts Platform, an AI-native discovery engine, and says the program reached Phase 3 in 4.5 years on about $23M of research spending.
The Phase 2b readout showed average weight loss of 8.2% to 10.3% at 24 weeks, and 34.5% to 48.1% of patients dropped at least 10% of their body weight. MindRank reported no transaminase elevation, even among participants who already had liver impairment.
Chief executive Zhangming Niu said the deal combines MindRank’s AI-driven research with Mandi’s commercialization reach.
