From AI transformers to computer-based reasoning to rethinking drug design: AI pioneers discuss the future

Jensen Huang at GTC

In a packed panel discussion at GTC, moderated by NVIDIA Founder and CEO Jensen Huang, the architects of the groundbreaking transformer model gathered to explore their creation’s potential. The panel featured seven of the eight authors of the seminal “Attention Is All You Need Paper” paper, which introduced transformers – a type of neural network designed to handle sequential data, like text or time series, in a way that allows for much more parallel processing than previous architectures like recurrent neural networks (RNNs). Transformers accomplish this through a mechanism called “attention,” which enables the model to differentially weigh the importance of different parts of the input data.

The transformer architecture powers large language models like GPT-4 and has ignited widespread interest in AI applications across industries including in biology, wher…

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Amgen opens AI-enabled Ohio biomanufacturing facility

CEO Bob Bradway rallies the manufacturing team at Amgen Ohio with a chant of “OH-IO.”

Earlier this year, NVIDIA and Amgen revealed plans to analyze one of the world’s largest human datasets using AI models trained on an NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD in Iceland. Now, Amgen is signaling its continued commitment to cutting-edge tech with a ribbon cutting for an advanced biomanufacturing facility in New Albany, Ohio. 

Known as Amgen Ohio, the facility is designed to uphold the company’s reputation for quality and reliability. It will play a significant role in producing innovative biomedicines to address serious diseases, employing approximately 400 people across various roles.

The new facility “was designed with the latest innovation and technology to deliver safe, reliable medicines for ‘every patient, every time,’” said Bob Bradway, chairman and chief executive officer at Amgen. 

Amge…
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When will drug development have its ChatGPT moment? Inside ambitious AI initiatives at Sanofi and Medable

In episode 4 of Ai Meets Life Sci, Kayleen Brown, managing editor at DeviceTalks and Brian Buntz, pharma and biotech editor, chat with Helen Merianos, Ph.D., head of R+D portfolio strategy at Sanofi and Michelle Longmire, MD, CEO of Medable. The focus? The two-fold application of AI in their respective companies’ technologies, both for scientific advancement and business productivity, were central themes. Sanofi is applying AI across the company, encouraging an inquisitive culture around product development. AI also aids in making more data-driven investments across various domains. Medable is tapping AI to build a culture of invention as decentralized clinical trials become more operationalized and scalable.

Tune in and subscribe to AI Meets Life Sci on all major podcast channels and follow youtube.com/@DeviceTalks or AI Meets Life Sci YouTube Podcast to ensure you never miss an episode.

Sanofi embraces AI for improved decision-making

In a June 2023 press rele…

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Inside Amgen’s ATOMIC strategy to use ML to accelerate clinical trials

[Image credit: Amgen]

Amgen has developed a machine learning platform to slash clinical trial times through smarter site selection. Known as ATOMIC, short for Analytical Trial Optimization Module, the system crunches disparate datasets to predict optimal trial locations, expedite enrollment and trial processes. Early results indicate more than a two times increase in enrollment speed at ATOMIC sites.

ML-powered clinical trial oracle could compress clinical trial cycle time

“With the massive amounts of data we’re pulling from various sources, we anticipate that by 2030, we’ll be able to shave about two years off the development times for our drugs,” said Sheryl Jacobs, vice president, global Development operations at Amgen​. For now, the company is steadily ramping up the number of trials using the ATOMIC process. “Within the next year or two, we expect the majority of our trials will be using the AI …

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Forecast 2024: Pharma industry grapples with regulatory hurdles and AI opportunities

[Johnathan/Adobe Stock]

Heading into 2024, the pharma industry finds itself in uncharted waters. On the one hand, the sector’s commitment to R&D investment and innovation output is likely to remain strong, with tools based on AI, automation and real-world data promising more streamlined drug candidate optimization. Additionally, the pharma sector is typically resilient in economic downturns. Financial stability in 2024 is likely to be elusive. While Goldman Sachs remains largely upbeat, analysts at UBS forecast significant economic headwinds for the U.S., including the looming threat of a recession, but characterize the pharma sector as “defensive”  — along with software, staple goods, electric utilities, reinsurance and defense companies.

Several factors, however, could complicate matters. First, the pharma sector continues to grapple with increased regulatory burdens from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),…

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Digital dreams and realities clash pharma and biotech in 2023

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The tale of digital pharma and biotech in 2023 is one of two realities. In one corner, you have AI and digital-focused startups and sometimes executives at Big Pharma companies with grand AI ambitions proclaiming the power of the technology. But on the other side of the pharma-AI coin is a more cautious crowd. Here, industry veterans and pragmatic managers wrestle with the realities of integrating AI into the tightly regulated and often legacy infrastructure that has guided drug development for decades.

Ambitious plans versus on-the-ground realities

It is true that the vast majority of pharma and biotech companies are working on crafting a strategy for AI tools. Only 1% of the participants in CRB’s Horizons Life Sciences 2023 report said they did not have such a strategy. Three-quarters, 76%, said such a strategy would be implemented within the next two years while 21% said they planned on doing so…

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How Lantern Pharma and Code Ocean partnered on oncology drug development

A vision for data-driven drug development in oncology

[Adobe Stock]

When Peter Carr, principal software architect of Lantern Pharma, stepped into his full-time role in September 2020, the company was on the cusp of a transformation. While AI had been a focus for a number of years, a fresh infusion of cash provided a possibility of expanding its AI capabilities and machine learning capabilities to drive down the cost of drug development in oncology.

Founded in 2012, the company went public in June 2020, raising $26 million. By the time he officially joined, Carr was already familiar with its operations, having previously worked as a consultant in 2019 to help set up the infrastructure. Carr joined full-time to help the company “expand their use of AI and machine learning for target discovery and patient stratification,” he recalled.

The challenge: Siloed research

While the company had experience in using A…

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NLP in drug discovery and the quest for the ‘right’ research elements

[Kishore Newton/Adobe Stock]

In drug discovery and development, data sources are as diverse as they are plentiful. There are comprehensive databases brimming with molecular targets, cellular processes, genomic sequences, proteomic profiles, and metabolite patterns that shed light on disease pathways. Data possibilities in the patient care realm are similarly vast, spanning electronic medical records, imaging datasets, and even patient-reported outcomes and adverse events reported on social media. The biomedical research site PubMed has tens of millions of research articles and studies. 

Yet, it’s easier to drown in such turbulent data volumes than it is to swim. Various estimates over the past decade have projected that 80% of healthcare data are unstructured. “There’s a huge amount of information that’s not standardized,” said Jane Reed, director of life sciences with Linguamatics, an IQVIA company.…

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Cellarity CEO: AI will fail in drug discovery unless we decode complex disease biology

[Credit: Cellarity]

The traditional drug discovery approach is broken, but so too are the approaches of many AI-focused organizations seeking to reboot the process. That’s the perspective of Fabrice Chouraqui, CEO of Cellarity and CEO Partner at the investment firm Flagship Pioneering, which played a role in launching Moderna in 2010. While a growing number of companies are focused on using AI to streamline drug discovery, the approach is still something like gambling with long odds. Traditional drug developers tend to “place a bet on a single molecular target very early on,” he said.

Despite the dizzying pace of scientific development, the fundamental approach of drug discovery has seen limited evolution. While  organizations are exploring strategies to redefine the process, they often bring a new tool to an existing process. With new technologies like AI, the initial thought is often to apply it to famil…

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Assessing the techbio landscape: hype or substance?

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The venture capital firm Artis Ventures, founded in 2001, coined the term “techbio” sector to describe biotech platforms where technology and engineering take the lead in advancing drug discovery and biomanufacturing. In circa 2019, the firm contributed to shaping the techbio landscape by setting up venture capital fund named Artis techbio that bridges the gap between software and drug development.

Although the term term “techbio” has gained prominence in recent year, the use of technologies such as AI, automation and genomics in the biotech sector has attracted considerable attention from startups and investors for much longer. This is evident when noting the founding dates of notable companies in the space: Ginkgo Bioworks’ origins trace back to 2008. Exscientia and AbCellera were established in 2012, and BenevolentAI and Recursion in 2013.

Reality c…
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Legacy Healthcare aims to upend alopecia areata treatment with a botanical drug

Cross sections of plant stem under microscope view [tonaquatic/Adobe Stock]

Imagine a world where botanical drugs could shape the future of medical treatment. Saad Harti, CEO of Swiss company Legacy Healthcare, doesn’t just imagine it; he’s on a mission to make it a reality. With an initial focus on alopecia areata in children and adolescents, Legacy Healthcare believes the plant extract Coacillium could be a blockbuster, given its promise as alopecia areata treatment.

As he put it, it’s all about the “unique assembly of the right plants.” Coacillium contains four: Allium cepa L. (onion), Citrus limon (L.) (lemon), Theobroma cacao (cocoa) and Paullinia cupana Kunth (guarana). The composition, which includes a variety of flavonoids, polyphenols and methylxanthines, has been linked with reversing immuno-inflammatory reactions in hair follicles and adjacent dermal tissues.

Hopes an…
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Synthetica Bio lates to tap generative AI to spur drug discovery innovation

Interest in generative AI has skyrocketed in 2023. While the generative AI market is already substantial, worth $10 billion in 2022 according to Grand View Research, it is set to balloon by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.6% from 2023 to 2030.  It’s no wonder that a slew of companies — including Exscientia, Insilico Medicine, Atomwise and BenevolentAI — are eager to tap the technology to expedite drug discovery.

Enter Synthetica Bio

The latest entrant in the generative AI scene is Laguna Beach, California-based Synthetica Bio. The startup aims to explore generative AI and large language models (LLMs) to enable real-time data processing. The company, founded by Simon Arkell and Alex Dickinson, entrepreneurs with a successful track record in companies like the predictive analytics firm Predixion, digital pathology startup Deep Lens, biotech Helixis and the molecular diagnostics firm Chromacode, has formed strategic partnerships to propel its platform de…

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