Chemify Recieves Grant to Accelerate Drug Discovery for TB and Malaria with AI-driven Chemistry

University of Glasgow spin-out Chemify (Scotland) has secured a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fast-track drug discovery for tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. Using its cutting-edge ‘Chemputation’ technology, Chemify aims to revolutionize drug discovery and deliver new treatments to improve global health.

Chemify’s fully automated platform integrates AI, robotics, and cheminformatics to design, synthesize, and optimize novel small molecules.

What sets it apart is its use of a chemical programming language that combines the latest developments in computer science and chemical engineering. This enables the platform to precisely control the chemical synthesis process, making it possible to reproducibly create complex, hard-to-access molecules at scale.

While other drug discovery platforms can take time to move from design to synthesis, Chemify’s system rapidly generates molecular structures and iterates on them in real time.

This iterative process refines potential drug leads, which will then be developed further with the help of ‘undisclosed partners.’

TB is the world’s second-deadliest infectious disease, with over 10 million cases and 1 million deaths in 2022. While antibiotics can treat TB, multidrug-resistant strains pose a significant challenge, complicating treatment for many patients.

Malaria also remains a significant global health burden, especially in Africa, with nearly 250 million cases and over 600,000 deaths reported in 2022. While antimalarial drugs exist, growing resistance to treatments continue to undermine their effectiveness.

“TB and malaria are major global health challenges that impact millions of lives every year. Thanks to the support of the Gates Foundation, we can use our digital chemistry technology to expedite the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics that can reduce the prevalence and socioeconomic burdens of these two deadly diseases,” Dr. Lee Cronin, CEO of Chemify, said in a statement.

“Chemify’s unique Chemputation technology integrates the design and synthesis of novel drug candidates with unprecedented speed. We are excited about our progress in forming additional biotech and pharma collaborations to enhance patient outcomes worldwide.”

The announcement follows Chemify’s recent appointment of Kevin McGowan as chief business officer, tasked with driving the commercial expansion and scaling the company’s digital chemistry technology.

“Chemify is building the infrastructure to digitize and automate chemistry, which will radically change chemical innovation,” McGowan said.

“The company’s revolutionary platform transforms small molecule R&D and will enable our partners to discover drugs and materials more efficiently and exponentially faster.”