Illumina unveils dataset to speed up AI-powered drug discovery
Jan 13 (Reuters) – Genetic sequencing company Illumina on Tuesday presented a dataset that maps genetic changes to help speed up drug discovery using artificial intelligence.
The company said it is partnering with drugmakers AstraZeneca, Merck and Eli Lilly for its Billion Cell Atlas, which will train advanced AI models at scale and advance research into fundamental disease mechanisms that were previously out of reach.
Drug developers are increasingly adopting AI for discovery and safety testing to achieve faster and less expensive results, in line with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to reduce animal testing in the near future.
Drug development software maker Certara and biotech companies such as Schrodinger and Recursion Pharmaceuticals are using the burgeoning technology to predict how experimental drugs might be “absorbed, distributed, or trigger toxic side effects.”
“We believe Cell Atlas represents a key development that will allow us to significantly expand AI for drug discovery,” said Jacob Thaysen, CEO of Illumina.
The Atlas will capture how 1 billion individual cells respond to genetic changes via CRISPR across more than 200 disease-relevant cell lines.
These cell lines were selected for their relevance to diseases, many of which have been historically difficult to decode, including immune disorders and cancer, as well as rare cardiometabolic, neurological, and genetic diseases.
The Atlas will allow users to characterize the mechanisms of action of drugs and diseases, explore potential new indications and validate candidate targets from human genetics.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
