Merck to evaluate Variational AI’s Enki™ generative AI platform to design novel and selective small molecules

Vancouver, BC – January 25, 2024 – Variational AI, developer of the Enki™ generative artificial intelligence (AI) platform for drug discovery, today announced a project with Merck Research Labs supported by the CQDM Quantum Leap program.

“We are pleased to announce Merck as an early-access user of our Enki™ Platform.” said Handol Kim, CEO, Variational AI. “Merck will evaluate Enki’s ability to generate novel small molecules on targets of their choosing. We built and trained Enki™ as a foundation model that generates novel, selective, and synthesizable lead-like structures. It designs novel molecules how other generative AI foundation models like DALL-E and Midjourney create novel images based on text prompts. In our case, a target product profile (TPP) is used as the series of prompts to describe the molecules in the language of chemistry. Enki™ then rapidly generates structures that meet the TPP.”

“Adoption of AI for drug discovery is accelerating, but it is being led by companies using their proprietary AI to discover and develop their own assets.” Explained Kim, “With the Enki™ Platform, chemists do not need to develop their own generative AI models, but can now submit their TPPs and get novel, diverse, selective, and synthesizable lead-like structures in days to move quickly into lead optimization.”

The collaboration is supported by CQDM under the Quantum Leap program.

“CQDM is pleased to have facilitated the establishment of collaborations for Variational AI by creating beneficial links with Merck, a global biopharmaceutical organization. These links between early-stage Canadian companies and the biopharmaceutical industry are critical for the growth of the Canadian life sciences sector,” said Jesse Paterson, Senior Director, BD.

About Variational AI

Variational AI is redefining the unit economics of drug discovery and development through the power of generative AI. Variational AI’s Enki™ Platform is a foundation model for small molecule drug discovery to accelerate and de-risk early-stage discovery. Please visit variational.ai.

About CQDM
Facilitator of biopharma innovation

CQDM is a not-for-profit biopharmaceutical research consortium whose mission is to support and facilitate multi-stakeholder collaborative R&D aimed at accelerating the translation of innovative technologies into solutions that address unmet medical needs, while generating significant benefits for the Quebec and Canadian economy. For more information, please visit the website: www.cqdm.org

Media Contact
Handol Kim
info@variational.ai

Leading Chemistry and Drug Development Researchers Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D. and Robert N. Young, Ph.D. Join SAB

Vancouver, BC – April 5, 2022 – Variational AI, developer of state-of-the-art generative AI technology to redefine the economics of drug development by accelerating the discovery of novel and optimized small molecule therapeutics, today announced that it has added industry leaders Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D. and Robert N. Young, Ph.D.  to the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Alexander Tropsha is a K.H. Lee Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Eshelman School of Pharmacy and Chief Domain Scientist for Molecular Informatics at the Renaissance Computing Institute, UNC-Chapel Hill. He has extensive expertise in computational chemistry, structural bioinformatics and cheminformatics, which brings together chemistry and computer science to assist in the discovery of new drugs. He has authored more than 260 peer-reviewed papers as well as 25 books and chapters. In addition to serving as pharmacy professor, Dr. Tropsha is also an adjunct professor for the UNC Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Computer Science and is a member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Tropsha is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Institute (Class of 2021).

Dr. Robert N. Young worked in various capacities at Merck Frosst Canada & Co., including Vice-President and Head of the Medicinal Chemistry Department and acting site head at the Merck Frosst Centre for Therapeutic Research (Montreal) and at MSD, Terlings Park Neurosciences Centre in the UK. Over his 30-year career, he led discovery efforts resulting in the development of Singulair®, Vioxx®, Arcoxia®, Previcox®, Tredaptive® and Odanacatib. Dr. Young is Professor of Chemistry and Merck Frosst-B.C. Leadership Chair in Pharmaceutical Genomics, Bioinformatics and Drug Discovery in the Chemistry Department, at Simon Fraser University. His current research is focused on the design and synthesis of novel pharmacological probes and proof-of-concept molecules for the discovery of new drug targets. Dr. Young founded Mesentech in 2016, a pre-clinical platform company that is developing therapeutics to treat a range of bone diseases. His many honours include winner of the Prix Galien, American Chemistry Society (ACS) Hero of Chemistry, the Order of Canada (MC), Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Chemical Institute of Canada and President of the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences (CSPS).

“The Variational AI team is pleased to be able to tap into the deep scientific expertise of Drs. Tropsha and Young to advance our efforts to revolutionize the development of new therapeutics,” said Handol Kim, co-founder and CEO, Variational AI. “As we seek to identify new drug-like small molecules with the potential to impact multiple disease areas, it is critical to have the input from chemistry leaders to ensure our generative AI platform is informed by leading medicinal and computational chemistry expertise.”

Drs. Tropsha and Young join current SAB member Artem Cherkasov, Ph.D., who was recently awarded the esteemed Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Precision Cancer Drug Design. He is a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) and head of the Therapeutics Development Core at Vancouver Prostate Centre. Throughout his impressive career, his research has focused on computer-aided drug discovery (CADD), AI-guided drug design, cheminformatics and the development of novel, precision cancer therapies. He has participated in the development of eight out-licensed drug projects and co-authored more than 200 research papers, 80 patent filings and several book chapters to date. In 2021, he received UBC Faculty of Medicine Distinguished Achievement Award for Excellence in Fundamental Science.

Variational AI uses machine learning to discover novel, drug-like small molecules. The company’s algorithm, Enki, learns from a training set of molecules screened against drug targets from both experimental and computational sources and then generates novel molecular structures which are optimized for properties to avoid common causes of drug attrition and accelerate drug development with the goal of reducing early-stage drug discovery to months versus years.

About Variational AI

Variational AI uses state-of-the-art machine learning in a data-efficient method to rapidly generate novel and diverse compounds that are optimized for multiple properties to avoid the most common causes of drug attrition and increase clinical probability of success. Variational AI works with leading biopharmaceutical partners and is developing its own internal pipeline. To learn more, visit variational.ai.

Media Contact
Jordan Bouclin
SVM PR
variationalai@svmpr.com

AI-Generated Antiviral is Intended to Treat Variants of Concern Such as Omicron and Delta

Vancouver, BC – December 15, 2021 – Variational AI, developer of state-of-the-art generative AI technology to redefine the economics of drug development by accelerating the discovery of novel and optimized small molecule therapeutics, today announced the company has generated and ordered compounds for validation in partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC) and adMare BioInnovations to develop a novel SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease (3CLpro) inhibitor. The therapeutic is intended to be efficacious against the wild type and current variants of concern, including Delta and potentially Omicron, in the form of an antiviral pill. The COVID-19 drug discovery program is funded by Canada’s Digital Technology Supercluster, which is supported by the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry.

“The Variational AI team is honored to partner with the University of British Columbia and adMare BioInnovations to work to address this most urgent medical need,” said Handol Kim, co-founder and CEO, Variational AI. “As society continues to grapple with COVID-19 variants, it is more important than ever to leverage the power of machine learning to accelerate our drug discovery efforts.”

Variational AI has trained its generative AI algorithm on a large amount of COVID-19 data to generate new molecules and has ordered a number of compounds to be synthesized that are predicted to be potent and safe with fewer side effects. Variational AI uses a generative model known as Variational Autoencoder (VAE), which is able to optimize molecular properties more quickly and uses data far more efficiently. The company intends to license the antiviral compound to a partner to accelerate progress and get the therapeutics into clinics sooner.

“We are proud to support Variational AI’s innovative approach to discovering an effective therapeutic for COVID-19,” said Sue Paish, CEO of the Digital Technology Supercluster. “While vaccines offer the first and best line of defense against COVID-19, the global community needs as many therapeutic options as possible to prevent fatalities and improve patient outcomes.”

Generally, pills can be manufactured, distributed and stored more easily and cost-effectively than vaccines and are particularly well-suited to treat people in developing countries. In addition to COVID-19 and its variants, the resulting therapeutic may also be efficacious against other coronaviruses.

“Our lab is committed to remaining at the forefront of applying computational methods to discover COVID-19 therapeutics, and our collaboration with Variational AI to leverage the company’s powerful AI adds a promising pipeline of novel and potent SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease inhibitors to the arsenal of antiviral options,” said, Artem Cherkasov, Ph.D., professor of medicine, University of British Columbia.

About Variational AI

Variational AI uses state-of-the-art machine learning in a data-efficient method to rapidly generate novel and diverse compounds that are optimized for multiple properties to avoid the most common causes of drug attrition and increase clinical probability of success. Variational AI works with leading biopharmaceutical partners and is developing its own internal pipeline. To learn more, visit variational.ai.

Media Contact
Jordan Bouclin
SVM PR
variationalai@svmpr.com

New Capital Will Advance Biopharma Company’s AI-Powered Programs Across Disease Areas

Vancouver, BC – November 17, 2021 – Variational AI, developer of state-of-the-art generative AI technology to redefine the economics of drug development by accelerating the discovery of novel and optimized small molecules, today announced that it has raised $US3.5 million ($CDN4.3 million) in seed funding. The investment round was led by Flying Fish Ventures, Alliance of Angels and A&E Investments, with participation from Lip-Bu Tan and Amarjit Gill, Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, investors and advisors.

Variational AI’s Enki algorithm learns from a training set of molecules screened against drug targets from both experimental and computational sources and then generates novel molecular structures with multiple pre-defined parameters/properties optimized to avoid common causes of drug attrition. This optimization is performed in parallel and can deliver results in months versus years and requires significantly less data than competing AI offerings.

“The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of accelerating drug discovery and reducing the cost and risk to developing therapeutics,” said Frank Chang managing partner, Flying Fish. “We are thrilled to invest in Variational AI’s machine learning approach to discovering new molecules, which has the potential to dramatically impact the biopharma industry.”

The seed funding will enable Variational AI to accelerate existing discovery programs for COVID-19, cancer and other disease areas. The company will also utilize the new capital to hire additional leaders in medicinal chemistry, cheminformatics, and machine learning, and recruit a Scientific Advisory Board.

“The Variational AI team is excited to welcome our investors in sharing our vision for redefining the economics of drug development,” said Handol Kim, co-founder and CEO, Variational AI. “We look forward to accelerating our current programs and identifying new drug targets that Enki is uniquely suited to tackle to rapidly address unmet medical needs.”

About Variational AI

Variational AI uses state-of-the-art machine learning in a data-efficient method to rapidly generate novel and diverse compounds that are optimized for multiple properties to avoid the most common causes of drug attrition and increase clinical probability of success. Variational AI works with leading biopharmaceutical partners and is developing its own internal pipeline. To learn more, visit variational.ai.

Media Contact
Sage Morander and Jordan Bouclin
SVM PR
variationalai@svmpr.com