AION Labs launches second startup targeted on AI-enabled antibody design

Israel-based AION Labs, an AI-enabled drug discovery partnership between international pharma and tech corporations, introduced the launch of its second startup, DenovAI.

DenovAI will develop an AI-enabled computational biophysics platform that may uncover potential antibodies directed towards particular epitopes (the a part of an antigen molecule acknowledged by the immune system to which an antibody attaches itself). The corporate stated the platform will design antibodies from scratch, then recommend which candidates will seemingly make efficient medication.  

AION Labs was constructed below a authorities tender and contains pharma giants AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer and Teva, alongside enterprise capital agency Israel Biotech Fund, strategic companion Amazon Internet Providers and German unbiased analysis institute Bio Med X.

Funding and pharmaceutical knowledge for machine studying improvement and mannequin coaching will probably be offered to DenovAI by AION Labs. 

“Now we have seen main advances within the discipline of therapeutic antibodies, however the strategy of growing new medication is extremely gradual, vastly costly and inefficient. With the help of AION Labs and its companions, we hope to develop a cutting-edge answer that may disrupt the entire discipline, reducing discovery timelines from months to days. And which may dramatically broaden the scope of antibody remedy to many extra ailments,” Dr. Kashif Sadiq, founder and CEO of DenovAI, stated in an announcement.

THE LARGER TREND

AION Labs introduced its first startup final yr, dubbed OMEC.AI, which goals to construct an AI-enabled computational platform to assist researchers assess the medical trial readiness of a drug candidate, determine hidden security liabilities and recommend experiments to shut any recognized gaps. 

“What we’re making an attempt to realize at AION Labs generally … is creating nice independent-growth AI-based startups for the biotech discipline so we can assist scientists and researchers — to not change them, however to actually empower them by bringing new technological functionality in order that they will optimize the entire strategy of drug discovery and improvement,” Mati Gil, CEO of AION Labs, instructed MobiHealthNews in September.

Different corporations using AI instruments for drug discovery embrace drug analysis platform Insilico Drugs and UK-based well being tech agency Healx, which makes use of AI to speed up drug discovery and coverings for uncommon ailments.