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AI-driven drug discovery is set to soar in 2024, especially with the recent announcements at this week’s 42nd annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference hinting at rapid advancements.
Isomorphic Labs, a division of Google’s parent company Alphabet, made headlines with two new strategic research collaborations. This London-based unit, led by Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis, teamed up with Eli Lilly and Novartis to explore small molecule therapeutics targeting various conditions. The partnerships could total up to $3 billion. Specifically, Isomorphic Labs will receive an upfront payment of $45 million from Eli Lilly and up to $1.7 billion based on performance milestones. Novartis will pay $37.5 million upfront, with an additional $1.2 billion tied to future incentives.
DeepMind, a pioneer in scientific breakthroughs, gained acclaim in July 2022 when its AlphaFold system accurately predicted the structures of nearly all known proteins, significantly advancing our understanding of biology and expediting drug discovery. Building on its earlier achievements, DeepMind made AlphaFold’s system open-source in 2021, covering 98.5% of proteins used in the human body.
In 2021, Hassabis founded Isomorphic Labs to focus on drug research. By December 2022, he indicated that the startup was nearing its first commercial deal, leveraging the breakthroughs made by DeepMind.
Recursion and Nvidia have also made notable strides in AI-driven drug discovery. In July 2023, Recursion, a Utah-based startup, announced a collaboration with Nvidia, which included a $50 million investment and access to Nvidia’s AI-powered BioNeMo tools. At the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, Recursion introduced Lowe, a software platform that uses a large language model (LLM) to help scientists navigate complex drug discovery tasks by querying the company’s models.
Nvidia followed up by releasing beta versions of BioNeMo’s cloud APIs, designed to simplify drug discovery workflows. These APIs allow researchers to tune models using proprietary data, perform AI model inference through web browsers or cloud APIs, and utilize pretrained models for drug development. Additionally, Nvidia partnered with biotech giant Amgen to develop AI models that will analyze one of the world’s largest human datasets, using Nvidia’s DGX SuperPOD platform installed at Amgen’s deCODE genetics headquarters in Iceland.
Professional service firms like Deloitte and Ernst & Young (EY) are also diving into AI-powered drug development. EY has formed a partnership with BioPhy, a drug development company focused on AI, to offer its technology to EY clients. Deloitte launched Atlas AI, part of its Quartz AI suite, which includes a drug discovery accelerator designed to expedite research and bring new drugs to market faster. Atlas AI uses generative AI models available through Nvidia’s BioNeMo, aiming to streamline research through data integration and a no-code interface.
In the competitive AI-driven drug discovery landscape, even companies like ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, are making moves. ByteDance is recruiting American experts in computational biology, quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, and physics for its “AI for Drug Design” and “AI for Science” teams. Their goal is to push the boundaries of AI-driven drug design, tackling challenges in protein structure prediction and molecular analysis to revolutionize the drug discovery process.
The surge of AI-driven drug discovery news is likely to continue beyond the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. Stay tuned for further updates and trends in this exciting field.