Key Takeaways:
- We have developed technology that efficiently applies predictive ML models to combinatorial synthesis libraries (CSLs) at a rate of ~500 B compounds per second, per GPU, allowing us to exhaustively evaluate otherwise enumerable chemical space to identify diverse compounds that best fit multi-parameter optimization criteria.
- In practice, this gives chemists the opportunity to flexibly and iteratively explore enormous chemical space while receiving results, in the form of enumerated chemical structures, within seconds of their inquiry, fostering a genuine creative process that leads to higher chemical diversity and developability.
- We use this approach in conjunction with our next-generation extrapolative ML models, which has allowed us to discover high-quality, diverse, structurally-distinct binders for targets of interest; however, this approach can be extended to any advanced predictive model in order to exhaustively evaluate any CSL.
Steve Worland
Steve Worland, Ph.D. serves as the CEO of Atomwise and has over 30 years of experience in corporate leadership and pharmaceutical R&D. He was previously President, CEO, and Board Member of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, which he co-founded in 2012. Prior to that, he was CEO of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company through its acquisition by Roche in 2011. Before becoming CEO, he served as Chief Scientific Officer and President of Pharmaceuticals at Anadys.
Earlier in his career, he held senior positions at Agouron Pharmaceuticals, Warner-Lambert, and Pfizer, where his scientific research contributed to the discovery and development of Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir), Inlyta (axitinib), zotatifin, tomivosertib, and other clinical-stage candidates. At Agouron, he was Vice President and Director of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, remaining at the company through its acquisitions.
Dr. Worland earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Biology at Harvard University as an NIH fellow. He earned a B.S. with Highest Honors in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan. He serves on the Board of Directors at Blacksmith Medicines and has previously served on the boards of Tracon Pharmaceuticals, Forge Therapeutics, and GenMark Diagnostics.