China has unveiled an artificial intelligence platform for drug discovery that can screen a vast library of chemical compounds, cutting the initial drug screening phase from months or years down to tens of seconds.
Developers said they expected the system to provide a novel method for identifying lead molecules to treat tumours, neurodegenerative conditions, rare diseases and emerging infectious diseases, as well as possibly speeding up drug research during public health crises.
Called GalaxyVS, the platform is powered by China’s new generation of Tianhe supercomputers, the official Science and Technology Daily reported on Monday.
Its daily throughput in predicting how two or more molecules interact is six orders of magnitude higher – or a million times faster – than the existing world record for supercomputing molecular docking.
The breakthrough was announced by the National Supercomputing Centre in Tianjin, which developed the platform in collaboration with a team from Tsinghua University’s Institute for AI Industry Research.
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