Anthropic is launching an internal drug discovery program with a focus on neglected diseases that traditional pharmaceutical companies would not consider commercially attractive, CNBC reported June 30.
At a June 30 event in San Francisco, Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Anthropic’s life sciences head, said the effort is designed to give the company firsthand experience in drug development as it builds AI tools for biopharma customers. Anthropic leaders framed the drug discovery program as a way to build credibility with the biopharma companies it hopes to win as Claude Science customers.
Jonah Cool, Anthropic’s head of life sciences partnerships, said the focus on neglected diseases will run alongside the company’s broader push to create and sell AI tools to life sciences companies.
“We’re doing this because we believe first and foremost that to build the right models, products and tools to accelerate the industry, we need to live it along with all of you,” Mr. Kauderer-Abrams said. “We believe in the power of tight feedback loops, and there’s no substitute for having our own experiences alongside you all in the trenches trying to develop drugs.”
The company did not outline what it would do with any promising drug candidates it identifies. Traditional biopharma companies would typically advance such candidates into clinical trials.
Alongside the drug discovery announcement, Anthropic unveiled Claude Science, an AI workbench designed for researchers that integrates scientific databases, computing resources and domain-specific tools for genomics, proteomics and drug discovery. According to a June 30 news release from Anthropic, the platform is available in beta for Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise users on macOS and Linux.
Anthropic has been expanding its healthcare presence. On Jan. 11, the company launched Claude for Healthcare, and in May committed $200 million in grants and Claude-related support to the Gates Foundation, with a focus on advancing healthcare initiatives.
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