In recent years, concerns regarding "AI washing", a phenomenon where companies inflate the capabilities of artificial intelligence technology to enhance their allure in the market, have emerged. Futurist Bernard Marr recently highlighted this issue, indicating that overstating AI's prowess could foster unrealistic expectations and subsequent disillusionment. Despite these concerns, AI has made significant strides in the field of drug design, with several companies employing AI to surmount complex challenges.
One such company, DeepCure, led by co-founder and CEO Kfir Schreiber, seeks to redefine drug discovery using AI. According to Schreiber, past AI technologies primarily aimed at improving efficiency but lacked innovation. DeepCure, however, approaches drug design from a different angle. Instead of relying on large-scale screening of drug libraries, the company uses AI to precisely engineer small-molecule drugs to meet predefined therapeutic goals. Their platform, MolGen, is pivotal in creating drug libraries customised to specific requirements, which include selectivity, solubility, and safety. This approach is exemplified in DeepCure's development of a selective BRD4 BD2 inhibitor aimed at treating rheumatoid arthritis.
VeriSIM Life also leverages AI to advance drug design, focusing on reducing animal testing while enhancing translational success rates. Led by founder and CEO Jo Varshney, the company uses hybrid AI models to simulate biological interactions across multiple species, including humans. Such simulations allow the company to predict clinical outcomes more reliably. VeriSIM's platform, BIOiSIM, evaluates drug development strategies, reducing research and development costs significantly. The company has further expanded its AI applications to cover areas like antibody-drug conjugates and phage therapy.
Advancements are also being made by Iktos, a company utilising AI to explore and synthesise novel molecules. Co-founded by Quentin Perron, Iktos employs a generative AI platform, Makya, trained on extensive records of chemical reactions. This assists in designing new compounds through multiparametric optimisation. To support this, their sophisticated robotics platform executes AI-designed synthesis, boosting throughput far beyond what standard laboratory methods can achieve.
Exscientia, another key player, perceives drug design as a learning opportunity rather than a simple screening process. According to Thorsten Nowak, vice president of medicinal chemistry, Exscientia implements an iterative design-make-test-learn approach, facilitated by their automated facility geared towards compound management and synthesis. The company has a robust pipeline, with AI-designed drugs advancing into clinical trials, such as a cyclin-dependent kinase 7 inhibitor nearing Phase I/II completion and promising Phase I results for their protein kinase C-theta inhibitor.
These advances point towards AI's increasing influence in drug discovery, challenging traditional methodologies and yielding drugs potentially overlooked by conventional means. Through predictive modelling and automation, companies like DeepCure, VeriSIM Life, Iktos, and Exscientia are pioneering new paradigms in pharmaceutical research, demonstrating that AI, when accurately leveraged, can deliver innovative and ground-breaking medical solutions.
Source: Noah Wire Services