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HK start-up uses AI to develop new drug

In a significant development, a Hong Kong-based health start-up has used Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design a drug in just 21 days. The drug showed potential treatments for fibrosis – a discovery that can speed up drug designing for various incurable diseases.

The AI system called generative tensorial reinforcement learning (GENTRL) helped design six promising treatments for fibrosis in 21 days.

Four compounds were active in biochemical assays, and two were validated in cell-based assays. One lead candidate was tested and demonstrated favourable pharmacokinetics in mice, the start-up stated in a paper published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

The new technology leveraged the start-up’s ground-breaking academic research in 2016 about using modern AI techniques of generative adversarial networks (GAN) and generative reinforcement learning (RL) to accelerate drug discovery.

In the Nature Biotechnology paper titled “Deep learning enables rapid identification of potent DDR1 kinase inhibitors”, this marks the first time the generative reinforcement learning technology was used to generate novel small molecules for a protein target that were validated in vitro and in vivo in just 46 days.

In comparison, traditional drug discovery starts with the testing of thousands of small molecules in order to get to just a few lead-like molecules and only about one in 10 of these molecules pass clinical trials in human patients.

In a similar technique used by another company to outcompete human GO players, GENTRL – powered by generative chemistry that utilizes modern AI techniques – can rapidly generate novel molecular structures with specified properties.

The start-up has also made GENTRL’s source code available as open-source on a platform designed by an American company that provides hosting for software development version control using Git.

The development of these first six molecules as an experimental validation is just the start, the start-up’s CEO noted.

He also stated that this paper is a significant milestone in the start-up’s journey towards AI-driven drug discovery.

Now, this technology is going mainstream and the models developed a few years ago and producing molecules against simpler targets being validated experimentally in animals are welcomed.

When integrated into comprehensive drug discovery pipelines, these models work for many target classes.

The firm will continue working with the leading biotechnology companies to push the limits of generative chemistry and generative biology even further.

By enabling the rapid discovery of novel molecules and by making GENTRL’s source code open source, new possibilities for the creation and discovery of new life-saving medicine for incurable diseases are being ushered in.

The company and its scientists are dedicated to transforming the pharmaceutical industry by developing and applying the next-generation deep learning approaches to every step of the drug discovery and drug development process.

The start-up is constantly collaborating with the most innovative biopharmaceutical companies with disease-relevant assays to validate its solutions and generate high-quality machine-learnable data.

An expert noted that the reduction of cycle time and overall cost of goods is critical to the future success of Pharma drug discovery activities.

In its paper, the HK start-up highlights a novel AI-based technology (GAN-RL) which allowed them to identify lead molecules with efficacy in animal models in notably short timeframes. If this technology proves broadly useful it may well have transformational potential for future lead generation efforts, according to the Adjunct Professor, School of Pharmacy at a North Carolina university.

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Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

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CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

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SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

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HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

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