Topos Bio, an AI-powered biotechnology company, has introduced two new AI foundation models that could help predict how new proteins can be used to treat previously “undruggable” diseases.
The first AI model, Topos-2, is built to predict how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), which are dynamic in nature, move and change shapes. The second AI model is Topos-Bind, a first-of-its-kind model designed to predict how these dynamic proteins interact with potential drug molecules, said Topos Bio CEO Ryan Zarcone and CTO Amir Khosrowshahi, in an interview with GamesBeat.
Together, these models represent a significant advancement in AI-driven drug discovery, addressing a class of disease-causing proteins historically difficult to study and target. That includes Parkinson’s Disease.
Topos Bio’s mission is to build foundation models to drug historically “undruggable” targets, disease-causing proteins that resist traditional drug therapies and tools.
“If you kind of think about some of the the most impactful diseases today facing society that still don’t have drugs, neurodegenerative diseases are one of those top categories,” Zarcone said. “There are other areas like very aggressive forms of cancer, autoimmune disease, but we will just take neuro for now and think about that.”
“So, if you ask the question, ‘Why is it that there are still no drugs for these diseases? Our perspective really comes down to dynamics. I’ll unpack it.
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