Drug Discovery & Molecular Design - software & AI news

Daily news on software, AI, and companies shaping drug discovery & molecular design.

Showing 284 results
A minimalist representation of a molecule symbolizing AI agents in drug discovery.

Sep 18, 2026

Virtual Biotech Company Puts 37,000 AI Agents to Work on Drug Discovery

Stanford researchers have developed a groundbreaking virtual biotech company leveraging 37,000 AI agents to enhance drug discovery, significantly improving the chances of clinical trial success.The pharmaceutical industry faces immense challenges, with around 90% of drugs failing to reach the market due to various factors, including poor translation of lab results to patient outcomes and unforeseen side effects. To address these issues, a team at Stanford has created a virtual biotech framework
Minimalist illustration of a pill representing drug development

Sep 18, 2026

London-based Big Picture Bio emerges from stealth with €2.55 million to develop AI-designed cancer drug combinations

Big Picture Bio, a London-based biotech startup, has officially launched with €2.55 million in funding to develop AI-driven cancer therapies.The funding consists of a €1.75 million pre-Seed round led by Kadmos Capital and Exceptional Ventures, complemented by €815k in non-dilutive support from Innovate UK. Founders Dr. Kerstin Papenfuss and Dr. Mark Hammond, both with extensive backgrounds in therapeutics and technology, aim to revolutionize drug development by using AI to predict the effectiven
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Sep 17, 2026

Alloy Therapeutics Selected to Join the World Economic Forum’s Unicorns Community

Alloy will contribute its perspective on building collaborative, AI-powered biotechnology infrastructure to accelerate the discovery and development of better medicinesBOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alloy Therapeutics, a Product Development Organization (PDO), today announced that it has been selected to join the World Economic Forum’s Unicorns Community, an invitation-only group of high-growth private companies valued at more than $1 billion and recognized for their potential to shape industries and
A flat illustration of a drug molecule silhouette on a solid background.

Sep 17, 2026

Novo taps Anthropic's Claude AI for drug discovery

Novo has integrated Anthropic's Claude AI into its drug discovery efforts, aiming to enhance research and development processes.Following the launch of Anthropic's AI workbench, Novo, formerly known as Novo Nordisk, has formed a partnership to leverage Claude and Claude Science for improved scientific reasoning. This collaboration will focus on addressing specific drug discovery challenges identified by Novo's scientists and computational teams, facilitating the development of tailored solutions
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Sep 17, 2026

Ginkgo Datapoints Announces Partnership with TuneLab to Close the Gap between AI Models and Lab Data

Integration puts Ginkgo’s biological data generation services at the heart of the industry’s most prominent AI-driven drug discovery networkBOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) today announced that its Ginkgo Datapoints offering has entered into a new agreement with Lilly TuneLab, a collaborative AI/ML drug discovery platform created by Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). TuneLab supports biotech innovation by enabling participating companies to access AI/ML drug discovery models trai
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Sep 16, 2026

Twist Bioscience Joins Lilly TuneLab to Advance Antibody Drug Discovery

Antibody characterization data generated by Twist supports TuneLab AI models designed to accelerate antibody discoverySOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a mid-cap growth and value biotech company, today announced an agreement with Lilly TuneLab, a collaborative AI/ML drug discovery platform created by Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). Twist is a provider of antibody characterization data services for TuneLab, including for AbLab, an antibody d
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Sep 16, 2026

X-Chem Named First Winner of Chordoma Foundation TBXT Challenge with Discovery of Novel Binder for Untreatable Bone Cancer Target

WALTHAM, Mass., Sept. 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- X-Chem, a pioneer in DNA-Encoded Library (DEL) technology and computational drug discovery, today announced it has won the Chordoma Foundation’s TBXT Challenge, securing $100,000 in milestone awards. The company was the first of 26 participating teams to discover a compound that binds Brachyury (TBXT) below the 1 micromolar threshold. TBXT is a key vulnerability in chordoma, a rare bone cancer with significant unmet treatment need. Winning the
A minimalist illustration of a pill and molecular structure in a dark palette.

Sep 16, 2026

TikTok parent ByteDance raises cash for drug AI spinout Anew

ByteDance has successfully raised $290 million for its AI-driven drug discovery venture, Anew Labs, marking a significant step in the intersection of technology and pharmaceuticals.The funding round was led by prominent investors including HSG, IDG Capital, and Hillhouse Investment, with participation from 5Y Capital. ByteDance maintains a 56% ownership stake in Anew Labs, which was officially spun out as a separate entity in June after being established in 2021. Under the leadership of Liu Kai,
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Sep 16, 2026

Novo and Anthropic will collaborate to advance drug discovery with Claude

Collaboration aims to help Novo discover and develop new medicines faster      Novo will use Anthropic models and Claude Science to advance scientific reasoning for Research and Development (R&D) and agentic software engineeringThis will further build on Novo’s work to become the world’s most AI-driven healthcare company Bagsværd, Denmark, 16 September 2026 – Novo Nordisk and Anthropic today announced a collaboration that will help Novo accelerate the development of new medicines and advanc
A vial of drug compound on a lab bench with chemical reagents in the background.

Sep 16, 2026

AI spots drugs that may be repurposed for priority pathogen

Recent advancements in AI have enabled researchers to identify potential drug candidates that could combat resistant infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, a significant public health threat.Led by Pedro Ballester from Imperial College London, the research team utilized three AI algorithms to analyze nearly 7,000 approved and investigational drugs. These algorithms were trained on existing data regarding drug efficacy against resistant bacteria, resulting in the identification of 11 prom
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Sep 16, 2026

Nona Biosciences Successfully Develops World's First Language Model Trained on Fully Human Heavy-Chain-Only Antibodies

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Nona Biosciences ("Nona"), a global biotechnology company advancing biologics discovery and development through innovative technology platforms, today announced the development of HCAbLM, the world's first language model specifically trained on fully human heavy-chain-only antibodies (HCAbs). HCAbLM was built on a large-scale repertoire comprising 31.8 million fully human HCAb sequences from 73 independently immunized HCAb transgenic mice. The stu
A glass vial with a drug compound on a lab bench next to a microscope.

Sep 15, 2026

Magnitude Biosciences secures €1.5 million investment to scale in-vivo drug discovery platform

Magnitude Biosciences has successfully raised €1.5 million to enhance its in vivo drug discovery platform, VivoScan, which aims to revolutionize the screening of compounds in whole organisms.The funding round, led by Northstar Ventures through various funds, also unlocked an additional Innovate UK grant of €253k. Magnitude's CEO, Dr. Fozia Saleem, emphasized the company's goal to be the first to screen millions of compounds within a living organism, thereby significantly accelerating drug discov