Application of advanced machine learning and structure-based approaches for repurposing & discovering therapeutics for COVID-19
The novel COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a global health emergency of international concern with an estimated death toll in millions worldwide. The development, testing and approval of the COVID-19 vaccine may take at least 12-18 months. By then, the virus could mutate and reduce the vaccine’s efficacy. This project aims to leverage the latest advances in AI to repurpose existing drugs and identify novel ones that could be further developed as COVID-19 therapies in an extremely condensed manner. We will utilize Apollo 1060, 99andBeyond’s AI-augmented decision-making platform that can rapidly search a chemical space that is orders of magnitude larger than competitors. We will collaborate with experimentalists, and aim to have a set of compounds confirmed in a set of in vitro COVID-19 assays within the next six months. The proposed set of compounds and their corresponding biological activity will be openly published to help the community build powerful predictive models for COVID-19 targets. Their further testing and development will require the engagement of collaborating physicians in the hospitals and may attract partnerships with leading pharma and biotech in the US and Canada.