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Drug Discovery Firm Exscientia Taps AWS Tech for Synthesis and Testing
Exscientia, which applies AI to the traditional drug discovery process, recently announced an expansion of its existing partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) into robotic lab automation.
The two companies already partner on drug design, specifically within Exscientia's DesignStudio platform. This platform "uses generative AI models and the scalability and flexibility of AWS to securely, quickly and efficiently design drug candidates that aim to better target specific diseases and patients, with the goal of accelerating early drug development at a lower cost," Exscientia said in its announcement.
DesignStudio, using AWS' AI capabilities such as the Amazon Bedrock model library, identifies genes, proteins and other biological targets that would make good candidates for new drug development. The recently expanded partnership with AWS will enable DesignStudio to then communicate its findings to Exscientia's AutomationStudio, the U.K.-based robotics lab where Exscientia synthesizes and tests high-potential drug candidates.
Findings from the AutomationStudio can then be fed back to DesignStudio to further refine that system's AI data.
The AWS partnership will effectively enable Exscientia to "close the loop" between hypothetical drug design and physical drug testing.
"Extending our collaboration with AWS beyond our DesignStudio to include the robotic automation of synthesis and testing of our molecular designs was the logical next step for Exscientia," said Exscientia CTO and John Overington. "We were seeking a solution that had fexibility and scalability, combined with high performance and generative AI capabilities."
He added, "AWS ticks all of these boxes."