Recursion Logs Fifth Sanofi Milestone, Says Joint Immunology-Oncology Portfolio Has Potential for 15 Programs
Salt Lake City clinical-stage AI drug developer Recursion reported a fifth progress-based milestone in its collaboration with Sanofi, bringing total payments under that partnership to $134 million to date. The company also disclosed $754 million in cash and cash equivalents and stated that, following lower-than-guided operating burn in 2025, it now expects its runway to extend into early 2028 without additional financing.
CEO and President Najat Khan said Recursion is moving toward demonstrating that an “AI-native operating system” can generate clinical proof, and the company highlighted five clinical programs advancing with defined next-stage milestones alongside additional preclinical assets moving toward IND-enabling decisions.
The fifth Sanofi milestone, achieved in February 2026, generated a $4 million payment and relates to a first-in-class oncology program targeting what the company describes as a historically difficult and novel biological space. Under the collaboration, Recursion and Sanofi are building a joint portfolio of more than five AI-designed small molecule programs across immunology and oncology, with potential to expand up to 15 programs.
Recursion's summary of business highlights; source: Recursion
Recursion reports that five discovery packages have been accepted to date. The company indicates that its AI-driven and physics-based design capabilities enabled development of the milestone-triggering molecule despite limited data at project initiation, yielding selective, orally active lead series. Additional development candidate and lead series milestones may be reached over the next 12-18 months as programs progress.
Internal Pipeline
Recursion’s internal pipeline update centered on three programs alongside a list of expected upcoming milestones across other wholly owned programs.
- REC-4881 (MEK1/2) in Familial Adenomatous Polyposis: Recursion presented this as its first clinical proof that its end-to-end platform can translate a biological finding into a drug candidate with measurable patient-level effects. The company said it plans to engage the FDA in the first half of 2026 to discuss a potential registration path, alongside ongoing work to refine dosing and expand eligibility in its ongoing study.
- REC-617 (CDK7): an AI-designed oncology program that moved from early design to a lead candidate in under a year. The program is in ongoing Phase 1/2 development, including combination studies in later-line ovarian cancer, with additional early-stage clinical updates expected in 2027.
- REC-7735 (PI3Kα H1047R): Recursion said this program is intended to more selectively target a common cancer mutation while reducing issues seen with less selective drugs in the same class. The asset is in IND-enabling studies, with a go or no-go decision on starting Phase 1 expected in the second half of 2026. Recursion also noted REC-102 (ENPP1) is in IND-enabling work on a similar timeline.
2025 wholly owned pipeline achievements; source: Recursion
The company also listed early Phase 1 safety and pharmacokinetic readouts it expects across several other wholly owned programs between 2026 and 2027, including REC-1245 (RBM39), REC-3565 (MALT1), and REC-4539 (LSD1).
Beyond Sanofi, Recursion’s collaboration with Roche and Genentech has generated $213 million in upfront and milestone payments to date. The partners have accepted six large-scale CRISPR-based Phenomaps, including the recent whole-genome knockout maps in iPSC-derived neurons and microglia, and initiated one small molecule program based on these datasets.
Capital
For full year 2025, Recursion reported operating cash burn of approximately $400 million, about 10% below prior guidance, and expects 2026 operating burn to be below $390 million, excluding partnership inflows and transaction costs. The company states it has received more than $500 million in upfront and milestone payments across partnerships to date.
Topic: Biotech Ventures
