Old drugs, new uses

Bengaluru start-up Prescience Insilico set up shop on the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on using machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate the discovery and development of drugs and materials. Its proprietary software can virtually and rapidly screen thousands of drug compounds against targets such as proteins involved in a disease.

Using multiple parameters, the start-up whittles them down to a list as sharp as possible of drug candidates for further study in wet lab experiments. It analyses and unearths connections between the molecular structures of targets, drug compounds, and disease mechanisms with the help of publicly available scientific literature and other data.

Its deep learning technology can identify patterns that might not be immediately apparent to human researchers, thus helping to identify potential drugs missed by traditional methods, says Co-Founder Jayant Singh.