Ceremorphic Life Sciences creating relevant data to make AI use in drug discovery: Dr. Venkat Mattela

Ceremorphic Life Sciences division will help transform the entire drug discovery and development process. It will have access to Ceremorphic’s own proprietary analog and AI technology platform that will allow its team of biology and chemistry experts to begin developing drugs at a pace unprecedented in the pharmaceutical industry.

Its new platform, BioCompDiscoverX, is based on Ceremorphic’s own proprietary patent pending technologies and includes a hardware-software solution leveraging its own advanced silicon technology.

Dr. Venkat Mattela, Founder& CEO, Ceremorphic, tells us more. Excerpts from an interview:

DQ: Please elaborate on Ceremorphic’s venture into the life sciences vertical, and the reason behind it.

Dr. Venkat Mattela:Life sciences has always been one of the main applications of our supercomputing chip. To reinforce our position in the drug discovery field, we established Ceremorphic Life Sciences -- a division dedicated to developing new drugs with unprecedented efficiency across the entire development pipeline.

This new division of Life Sciences is backed by our proprietary analog circuit technology, supercomputing chips, and state-of-the-art in silicon architecture -- all designed to significantly reduce the drug discovery time. With these advancements, we are poised to speed up every phase of discovery, development, and clinical trials in the drug discovery pipeline.

Any new drug development poses a big challenge in computing power requirement to search a correct drug molecule among a huge search space. Deploying AI to reduce the search space is a key direction. However, AI needs relevant data and huge computing power. We have created the analog technology to create relevant data to make AI use in the drug discovery.

With the new launched division and the phase of growth, it is a testament to our unwavering commitment to exploring multitude of possibilities that lie within the realm of pharmaceuticals science. By renewing our focus on drug discovery methodology, we are taking crucial steps towards advancing medical science, developing innovative treatments, and tackling the healthcare challenges of both today and tomorrow.

DQ: How did the launch of the supercomputing chip in 2022 lay the foundation for the launch of this new division?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: With more than 10,000 identified diseases in the world, and over 90% of new drug candidates failing to clear phase II of clinical trials, we, at Ceremorphic, clearly recognized the need for a new development methodology in the early stages of drug discovery.

The launch of our supercomputing technology validation chip in 2022 marked a pivotal moment for us, as we proved some key analog technology component critical in analog reaction processor. This breakthrough technology became the catalyst for the new division, as it highlighted our unique position of advantage in the complex and data-driven world of drug discovery.

We recognized the transformative potential of our technology in the Life Sciences domain, and knew a separate division would not only address the industry-wide challenge of lengthy drug development, but would also position us at the forefront of drug discovery innovation.

In essence, our Life Sciences division embodies our commitment to innovation and efficiency, contributing groundbreaking solutions to pharmaceutical and drug discovery challenges.

DQ: What were the challenges faced during ideation and implementation, and the current drug discovery landscape?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: Drug design inefficiencies in the pharmaceutical industry lead to increased costs, longer development times, and reduced effectiveness. Therefore, it is important to enhance efficiency in drug design to optimize the success rate and reduce the overall time and cost of bringing new and effective medications to patients.

Currently, it takes over a decade to develop a single new drug, which costs a pharmaceutical company more than $2 billion to bring it to market. As a result, only a small number of drugs can be produced per year. Furthermore, managing the side effects of medications and dealing with high failure rates in clinical trials are also major challenges that are faced by the industry. These are reasons that drove us to develop a new methodology based on our own analog technology.

However, as we speak, today the industry is increasingly focusing on integrating the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies into drug discovery and development workflows.

DQ: What is your go-to-market strategy for the Indian landscape?

Dr. Venkat Mattela: India is already making great strides in the drug discovery space, and its pharmaceutical industry is poised for substantial long-term growth. Currently, India ranks third in the world for producing medicines by volume, and 14th in overall value.

Our strategy involves partnering with companies that have faced challenges with the cost and development time required to bring new drugs to market. In alignment with our business model, we plan to develop pharmaceuticals and oversee vital clinical trials. At the same time, we will collaborate with strategic partners who will be responsible for manufacturing these innovative drug products.

This new approach and product will not only increase the efficiency of pharmaceutical companies in India, but will also revolutionize the future of drug discovery by making cost-effective personalized medicine a reality in the near future.

The future of drug discovery is personalized medicine. BioCompDiscoverX is now revolutionizing drug design to make personalized medicine affordable!