PacBio and TychoBio Partnered on RNA Sequencing
The collaboration aims to train AI models for rare disease therapy design using large-scale full-length RNA datasets.
Updated on Oct. 6, 2026 in Biotech
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PacBio and TychoBio have announced a new partnership to generate full-length RNA sequencing data. This research-stage initiative will utilize PacBio HiFi and Kinnex sequencing technologies to train artificial intelligence models for designing rare disease therapies.
Why it matters
The collaboration seeks to accelerate the development of safer RNA-targeting compounds by using AI to predict therapeutic efficacy and unintended effects. It addresses the challenge of designing complex RNA-based treatments by leveraging high-resolution genomic data.
The effort leverages PacBio HiFi and Kinnex sequencing to profile transcriptome changes across multiple cell types. The team intends to process over 10,000 samples to inform predictive models for therapeutic compounds.
The players
PacBio
A California-based company known for its long-read DNA and RNA sequencing platforms that provide high-fidelity genetic data.
TychoBio
A Paris-based biotechnology firm focused on applying artificial intelligence to the design and development of RNA-targeting therapeutics.
The details
The project uses PacBio HiFi, a long-read sequencing technology that provides high-accuracy genetic data, and Kinnex, a method for sequencing multiple full-length RNA molecules at once. TychoBio will test candidate RNA therapies and use this data to map how the transcriptome—the complete set of RNA transcripts in a cell—responds to treatment. This data serves as a training set for AI algorithms designed to anticipate both the desired therapeutic effects and potential off-target consequences.
Timeline
October 6, 2026: PacBio and TychoBio announced their collaboration.
The Tech Race
This collaboration follows a broader industry trend of integrating deep sequencing data with predictive AI to address the design hurdles in RNA medicine. It positions the partners to compete in the race to build more efficient, safer alternatives to existing RNA-targeting drug pipelines.
This research-stage effort is currently limited to data generation and model training, meaning there is no immediate clinical application for patients. TychoBio plans to eventually expand this sequencing approach to include siRNA and other RNA-targeting compounds.
The takeaway
The partnership highlights the growing necessity of large-scale, high-fidelity transcriptome data for training reliable AI in drug discovery. Observers should track future updates on the model performance metrics and the expansion of this methodology to additional RNA-targeting compounds.
Further reading
Explore the latest developments in gene sequencing and AI-driven medicine in our Biotech section.
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