UCB, NVIDIA, and Valence Labs (powered by Recursion) have joined OpenFold, a non-profit artificial intelligence (AI) research group, that aims to create free and open-source software tools for biology and drug development. The pharmaceutical and TechBio sectors will benefit from UCB and Valence Labs’ expansion of OpenFold’s reach and support, while NVIDIA’s expertise in AI computing will hasten the consortium’s technological advancement.
“One of the most potential areas for AI to have an impact on our daily lives is the use of AI to proteins. According to Lucas Nivon, one of the co-founders of OpenFold and CEO at Cyrus Biotechnology, the White House’s voluntary AI framework specifically includes developing AI to address “society’s deepest challenges,” using drug discovery for oncology as an example. “That calls for the best minds in biotech and technology, and today’s announcement adds three significant firms to assist in advancing OpenFold. The ultimate objective is for patients to gain from the support provided by UCB, NVIDIA, and Valence Labs to OpenFold, especially those with unmet medical requirements.
The Open Molecular Software Foundation, a non-profit group improving molecular sciences by creating communities for open-source research software development, is the organization behind OpenFold, a coalition of academic and industrial partners established in February 2022. The founding companies of OpenFold, Cyrus Biotechnology, Arzeda, Outpace Bio, Bayer, Basecamp Research, CHARMM Therapeutics, and Dassault Systemes are joined by the three new members.
The goal of OpenFold is to make the most potent software ever developed—AI systems capable of engineering life’s molecules—available to everyone. These technologies can help expedite basic biological research and bring new treatments to market that would not have been able to be found without AI. They can be utilized by academics, biotech, and pharmaceutical businesses, or students learning to develop the medicines of tomorrow.
UCB, a global biopharmaceutical firm with its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, is known for its commitment to innovation and is supported by decades of outstanding scientific research in the fields of immunology and neurology. UCB has extensive experience in Computer-Aided Drug Design (CADD) using both physics- and AI-based methodologies. The company is also skilled at using these tools to commercialize medications.
“UCB is excited to join the OpenFold Research Consortium because we understand that open collaboration and collaborations, as well as the application of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence and computer-aided drug design, may help us make a bigger impact. Our CADD team’s use of cutting-edge science and technology has made it possible to find some of our biologics-based treatments, and by joining the OpenFold consortium, we hope to advance the fields of protein structure prediction and open science, according to UCB Chief Scientific Officer Dhaval Patel. “AI techniques to more accurately anticipate protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions are of particular interest to us. To accomplish those goals, we may work in pre-competitive areas with other pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as with academic specialists thanks to the OpenFold consortium.
A leader in accelerated computing, deep learning, and AI, NVIDIA is a full-stack computer business. Its technology is advancing a variety of sectors, including biopharmaceutical research and drug development.
“Protein structure prediction advancements have the potential to transform how we treat illness, generate energy, and feed the globe. According to Anthony Costa, Group Lead for Life Sciences Developer Relations at NVIDIA, “OpenFold’s open research software development mission combined with NVIDIA’s accelerated computing contributions has the potential to enable anyone and everyone to access the tools and methods needed to address these challenges.”
In July 2023, Valence Labs officially debuted as Recursion’s machine-learning research engine. The company aims to pioneer the creation of innovative tools, models, and benchmarks while promoting a sense of community through open science and academic research. Early in 2023, NVIDIA and Recursion, along with Valence Labs, established a partnership to work together to develop the fundamental models for drug development using Recursion’s exclusive datasets and NVIDIA’s computing capabilities.
“Valence Labs is honored to join OpenFold and excited to contribute to the growing movement of democratizing machine learning research for the drug discovery community,” stated Daniel Cohen, president of Valence Labs. “Valence has a long history of collaborating with the machine learning community to share our research and tools, and we look forward to stepping up those efforts through the OpenFold consortium.”
