Using AI for drug discovery

Artificial intelligence is changing the way drugs are being discovered. Find out how in this episode. 

Episode Guest: Handol Kim, Co-Founder and CEO, VariationalAI.

Check out Ie-Knowledge Hub Video Case Studies on the International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub.

Questions or feedback on our episode? Get in touch with show host Thierry Harris: [email protected] 

Episode Research Question:

How can VariationalAI continue to work with pharma organizations to help develop better methods for validating their drug targets?

Write to us at [email protected] and we'll post some of your answers on our website page.

Handol is Co-Founder & CEO of Variational AI, an AI for drug discovery start-up based in Vancouver. Variational AI is applying its state-of-the-art generative AI to discover novel and drug-like small molecules that are efficacious, safe, and synthesizable in months versus years. Prior to co- founding Variational AI, Handol was General Manager of the Quadrant AI Business Unit of D-Wave Systems Inc, and brings over 20 years of executive management experience and leadership from venture-backed start-ups and publicly-listed technology companies in cloud, mobile/embedded, and telecommunications software in Silicon Valley, Canada and Asia Pacific. Variational AI is the third startup he has co-founded. Handol is Vice-Chair of the AI Network of British Columbia (AInBC) and a board director of the Digital Technology Supercluster and the United Way Lower Mainland.

Episode Links:
 

Variational AI

Handol Kim

CAMDEA Link to more on Variational AI

Drug Discovery

Medicinal chemistry

Small molecules definition

Small molecules drug production

Principles of Drug Discovery

Brute force approach to drug discovery

High throughput virtual screening

In-silico biology

Drug Targets 

Short definition

Proteins as drug targets

Comprehensive Map of Drug targets

Further reading on drug targets 

Drug Lead definition

Lipinski’s rule of five

Drug Assets definition

Drug Repurposing

Further reading on challenges of drug repurposing in COVID era

Biochemical Assays

SARS basics

Open source chemical repositories

Zinc

Pubchem

ChEMBL

AI terminology 

Machine learning algorithms

Generative AI 

Generative Vs discriminative AI models

Deep learning definition

Variational Encoders tutorial

Short Definition with mathematical examples

Original Alexnet paper

Paper outlining the significance of Alexnet work

Further reading on Alexnet

Krizhevsky papers

Image net 

Hinton Lab university of Toronto

 Krizhevsky’s work at university of Toronto and impact on Silicon Valley

Autonomist labs University of Toronto

Simon Fraser University  Autonomous lab

Other links

Vancouver Prostate Center

Dr. Artem Cherkasov

Digital Supercluster

Bill Tam

Vancouver General Hospital

University of British Columbia

Photon etc.

Abcellera

ElementAI

Zymeworks

Admare BioInnovations

Atomwise

Recursion

Benevolent AI

Deep Genomics

Cyclica

Insilico

InVivo (now Valence)

NVIDIA

Biogen

Thierry Harris

Ie-Knowledge Hub Sponsorship Case

Photon etc Case Study

Thierry Harris

Market Hunt is produced by Cartouche Media in collaboration with Seratone Studios in Montreal and Popup Podcasting in Ottawa. 

Market Hunt is part of the International Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub network.  Funding for this program comes from the Social Sciences and Humanities Resource Council of Canada.

Executive Producers: Hamid Etemad, McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management and Hamed Motaghi, Université du Québec en Outaouais. 

Associate Producer, Jose Orlando Montes, Université du Québec à Montréal.

Technical Producers Simon Petraki, Seratone Studio and Lisa Querido, Pop up Podcasting. 

Show consultant, JP Davidson. Artwork by Melissa Gendron. Voiceover: Katie Harrington.

You can check out the ie-Knowledge Hub Case studies  at ie-knowledgehub.ca.