Summary: Federal Project Grant Award to Talus Bioscience Inc.

Talus Bioscience Inc. received a $1,035,634 Project Grant from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS, CFDA 93.350) effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028, to advance STRATEGIAN, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug discovery platform designed to accelerate the development of transcription factor therapeutics. The company will deliver three primary products and services: (1) optimization of protein and compound representations using cutting-edge machine learning models, including protein and chemistry foundation models, to enhance predictive performance for transcription factor-chromatin interactions; (2) discovery of novel inhibitors for three high-priority transcription factors through active learning methodologies that iteratively improve AI predictions via experimental validation; and (3) development and deployment of scalable data infrastructure, including automated data integration pipelines and a web application for internal and external use, to support real-time AI-driven drug discovery workflows.

These deliverables leverage STRATEGIAN's proprietary TF-SCAN technology, a high-throughput functional proteomics platform that measures compound effects on transcription factor activity across thousands of targets in live cells. The research integrates functional proteomics, advanced machine learning methodologies, and cloud-based infrastructure to address the challenge of targeting transcription factors—a historically underexploited and structurally complex class of therapeutic targets implicated in cancer, fibrosis, and immunological disorders. Work will be performed at Talus Bioscience's location in Seattle, Washington.