AI-powered drug discovery demands investor patience
AI-powered drug discovery demands investor patience, the FT note today:
But AI is still no substitute for the experimentation that underpins understanding of a disease. The sector has already experienced trouble. On the day of Xaira’s launch, BenevolentAI announced major lay-offs […]
Xaira Therapeutics is an interesting company. Their RFdiffusion model from David Baker’s lab is powerful, and a similar technique appears to be adopted by AlphaFold3. The company received one billion dollars to get started.
AI is not a magical solution to these problems [cost, inefficiencies, data availability]. Data gaps can be filled through experimentation, but it takes time and deep pockets.