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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Denmark teams up with Novo Nordisk Foundation, NVIDIA to launch visionary AI research center

A total of 15,128 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs (pictured here) will be used in the Denmark AI Innovation Center. The hardware can support the development of advanced AI applications, from protein structure prediction to quantum computing research.

A collaboration between the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), and NVIDIA will establish a national AI Innovation Centre in Denmark focused on accelerating research and innovation in fields including healthcare, life science, and quantum computing. The initiative is led on the Danish side by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which has committed roughly DKK 600 million (around $90 million) toward the initial costs of the center, and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO), which has contributed another DKK 100 million.

In a press briefing, Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA’s VP of healthcare, highlighted Denmark’s “…

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Iambic Therapeutics and NVIDIA partner to slash cancer drug development timelines

Using generative AI in drug discovery, Iambic Therapeutics (formerly Entos) has advanced its IAM1363 drug candidate from program launch to clinical studies in fewer than 24 months — a process that often takes several years. Iambic Therapeutics’ AI drug development milestone relied on an alliance with NVIDIA researchers and engineers and through the use of AI tools, including NeuralPLexer, a generative AI model designed to predict the three-dimensional structure and binding interactions of protein-ligand complexes.

The company has since developed the next generation of the model, dubbed NeuralPLexer2 that boasts higher accuracy and new features for biomolecular structure prediction and drug design.

IAM1363 is a selective, brain-penetrant inhibitor designed to treat HER2-driven cancers. It is designed to target metastatic tumors throughout the body, including the brain, while offering a wider therapeutic index and reduced toxicity over existing therapies. Read more

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NVIDIA and AWS collaborate to bring BioNeMo AI platform to the cloud

3D protein structure prediction with AlphaFold2, OpenFold, and ESMFold in NVIDIA’s BioNeMo. [NVIDIA]

Chipmaker NVIDIA and cloud behemoth AWS have been partnering for years, and now the two companies are announcing that NVIDIA’s drug discovery generative AI platform, BioNeMo, is now available on AWS. Additionally, plans are underway for BioNeMo to be offered on AWS on NVIDIA DGX Cloud.

The alliance was announced at the AWS re:Invent event. Startups including Evozyne, Etcembly and Alchemab are early AWS users using BioNeMo for generative AI-accelerated drug discovery and development.

Evozyne focuses on creating novel proteins for therapeutic development, Etcembly is building a large machine learning database for immunology and TCR immunotherapies, and Alchemab specializes in identifying protective antibodies for hard-to-treat diseases.

Last week, NVIDIA announced a collaboration with Genentech with BioNeMo also playing a ke…

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Decoding the enigma of the commander complex: Employing AlphaFold2 to illuminate biological structures

The commander complex. [New image from Institute for Molecular Bioscience The University of Queensland]

Machine learning algorithms, such as Alphabet’s neural network-based model AlphaFold2, are steadily transforming medical research, shedding light on complex biological structures. A recent case in point involves research using the technology to explore the Commander complex, a 16-protein complex crucial for cellular protein transport processes. This complex is not only vital for normal cellular function, but it’s also associated with several diseases, making it a potential target for novel therapies. Scientists at the Universities of Bristol and Queensland (Australia) and the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, collaborated on the research.

The renowned journal Cell published the study, titled “Structure of the endosomal Commander complex linked to Ritscher-Schinzel syn…

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