Google plans to release AI models for drug discovery

On Tuesday, March 18, Google announced that it is going to develop the collection of open-source AI models for drug discovery called TxGemma. They will be able to understand both plain text and structures of therapeutic objects, including chemical compounds, molecules, and proteins.

TechCrunch writes about it.

How the AI model for drug discovery release will impact the pharmaceutical industry

Chief Health and Safety Officer Karen DeSalvo noted that the development of therapeutic drugs from concept to approved use is a long and expensive process. Therefore, Google is working to make this development more efficient.

She said that the researchers will be able to ask TxGemma questions that will help predict important properties of potential treatments, such as how safe or effective they might be.

Google has not yet announced whether the new models will be licensed for commercial use, customization, or development.

Many companies, including Google subsidiary Isomorphic Labs, have promised that AI could one day revolutionize drug development by speeding up the research and development stages. Despite some successes, AI has not yet delivered the magic in the labs.

Some firms, such as Exscientia and Benevolent AI, have used AI to develop drugs, but have suffered high-profile failures during clinical trials.

Currently, pharmaceutical companies and investors are enthusiastic about the potential of this technology, and it has already been announced that testing of AI-developed drugs will start in 2025. According to estimates, more than 460 startups are currently working on the development of drugs using AI, and investors have invested USD 60 billion in this area.

As a reminder, the scientists spent 10 years figuring out how superbugs acquire resistance to antibiotics and came up with their hypothesis. Without providing research results, they turned to Google's AI, which provided them with the same answer as the researchers had come up with in just two days.

We also wrote that users have noticed that Google Gemini can remove watermarks from images. This caused controversy online, as AI completely ignores copyright.