Alchemite is the name given to an advanced deep learning technology that’s been developed by Cambridge startup Intellegens. The startup has just revealed details of its first collaboration, and it’s with e-Therapeutics, an Oxford-based whose work focuses on discovering and developing new, more efficient drugs more efficiently.
Working together the two companies will be able to improve predictions, fill gaps, and correct errors in the chemical and biological information of Alchemite’s massive database.
Intellegens was founded by Dr Gareth Conduit and Ben Pellegrini in 2017 and is a development that originated from the University of Cambridge. Already the company has deployed its code in two very distinct and separate applications: material design and drug discovery.
Those customers that have used the company’s bespoke AI software have saved significant amounts of money. In using the AI software they’ve managed to reduce the number of experiments needed, therefore cutting down the time it takes to get a drug into development by a generous amount.
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Dr Gareth Conduit is CTO and co-founder of Intellegens, while Ben Pellegrini is the company’s CEO and also a co-founder. “There is an increasing realisation that there is a huge amount of value locked in the massive databases that underpin most commercial organisations,” said Pellegrini.
“Through Intellegens, these companies now have a way to extract that value, using a proven method that is scalable, objective and meaningful. We believe our technology can help e-Therapeutics in its search for better and more potent drug candidates.”
Intellegens has just recently moved premises and is now located into Cambridge’s Eagle Labs. It’s also taken on board a Dr Tom Whitehouse from the Cavendish Laboratory to help accelerate its research and enhance its delivery capabilities. “Alchemite is the first in a series of application specific AI modules that we are developing at Intellegens,” explained Dr Conduit.
“These will be designed to address specific, high value, data analysis bottlenecks that we are uncovering through our discussions with existing and potential customers. With these new modules we intend to pursue new business opportunities in both Life Sciences and other sectors.”
There are other sectors that can also benefit from the Intellegens approach including retail, health, and autonomous cars. These are all areas the company is looking into currently and hope to develop further will a little funding help from the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK.
Source Businessweekly