Chinese tech giant Tencent has launched iDrug, an AI-driven software platform, to aid new medicine development, according to a press release issued by the company on Thursday.
Developed by Tencent’s AI lab, iDrug was designed to speed up the entire process of pre-clinical drug discovery with its machine learning capabilities, according to the release. The platform is made up of five models for protein structure prediction, virtual screening, generative chemistry, ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity/pharmacokinetic) prediction, and synthetic route planning. The virtual screening and ADMET prediction models are already online, open to all pharmaceutical companies and research institutes for free, with the remaining three models to come online soon.
More than 10 projects—including potential cures for COVID-19 from several pharmaceutical companies—are now running on iDrug, said Tencent in the press release.
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This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.