New project to make the UK a leader in AI-drug discovery, as Imperial College also partners with the World Economic Forum on AI-Driven Innovation Centre.
- New OpenBind consortium to make the UK a leader in AI-driven drug discovery - slashing the cost of drug discovery and development by as much as £100 billion.
- Imperial College London to partner with World Economic Forum to deliver new AI-Driven Innovation Centre - boosting AI adoption and innovation to grow the economy
- Peter Kyle to set out plans at London Tech Week for technology to go further and faster in unlocking the growth driving the government's Plan for Change
People around the world are set to benefit from new breakthroughs in AI-driven drug discovery to tackle previously untreatable diseases and transforming patient outcomes using British AI and research expertise.
Announced today, the UK's 'OpenBind' consortium will use breakthrough experimental technology to generate the world's largest collection of data on how drugs interact with proteins, the building blocks of the body. This will be twenty times greater than anything collected over the last fifty years - cementing the UK's position as a global hub for AI-driven drug discovery.
This will support the training of new AI models that can identify promising new drugs, giving researchers an unparalleled ability to open up new fronts in the fight against disease- slashing development costs by up to £100 billion and sparking the innovation and economic growth which underpins the government's Plan for Change .
Based at Diamond Light Source - the UK's national synchrotron facility at the Harwell Science Campus in Oxfordshire - the consortium will close critical data gaps, driving breakthroughs in healthcare which will unlock new avenues for drugs that can treat and beat diseases, as well as helping scientists harness the transformative potential of engineering biology to face down a range of other issues, such as designing new enzymes to tackle plastic waste.
The consortium, backed with up to £8 million of investment from DSIT's newly established Sovereign AI Unit, will be led by some of the world's leading scientific minds including Professor Charlotte Deane at the University of Oxford, Professor Frank von Delft at Diamond Light Source and the University of Oxford, and David Baker, Chemistry Nobel Prize winner and head of the Institute for Protein Design at Washington University.
The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Peter Kyle said:
London Tech Week is where we lay down a marker - not just as a government with technology at the heart of our agenda, but as a country that will harness its opportunities for the global good.
OpenBind is a prime example of how we're doing exactly that. Through home-grown AI expertise, we will be the driving force that doesn't just treat, but beats disease - benefitting every person in the world.
This week, we'll have plenty more to say on how we're using technology to drive growth, improve public services, and transform communities all over the country - delivering a Plan for Change grounded in action, not words.
This investment will also help to unlock unique strategic capabilities for UK AI and biosciences, securing the nation's critical influence over a sector fundamental to growth, health, and wellbeing.
Investors from industry and philanthropy will be convened shortly to have the opportunity to co-invest and take the project to a point of maximum ambition. These discussion will include a roundtable at 10 Downing Street including Isomorphic Labs, Astex Pharmaceuticals, Apheris, Chai Discovery, Genentech, Genesis Therapeutics, Odyssey Therapeutix, Pfizer Inc, and Renaissance Philanthropy.
Professor Gianluigi Botton, CEO, Diamond Light Source, said:
At Diamond Light Source, a Joint Venture between the UK government through STFC and the Wellcome Trust, we are proud to be at the forefront of the UK's ambition to lead the world in AI-driven drug discovery.
OpenBind represents an exciting step forward in harnessing our unique capabilities to generate the high-quality data that AI needs to revolutionise healthcare, helping to cement the UK's position as a global hub for bioscience innovation.
Sir Demis Hassabis, CEO, Isomorphic Labs, said:
High-quality biochemical data supports superior AI models, which in turn helps us design new drug candidates faster.
We're delighted to partner with the OpenBind Consortium and the UK government to cultivate this vital resource. This is a brilliant initiative for UK science, and we're proud to support it from its inception.
Artificial Intelligence has become one of the key drivers of the government's Plan for Change, with its adoption across the economy sparking economic growth and creating jobs. Earlier this year the Prime Minister launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan - taking forward 50 recommendations which will mainline the technology into all sectors of the economy.
To accelerate AI's rollout even further, Imperial College London has today announced it will partner with the World Economic Forum to deliver a Centre for AI Driven Innovation based in the UK. This dedicated centre will cement the UK's global position as a leader in the technology, driving innovation by unlocking AI's potential to transform economies across various sectors. The Centre will join the World Economic Forum's Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) Network - a global network of 21 independent centres which bring together public and private sectors to maximise technological benefits while minimising risks.
The UK government will work with both organisations to co-design the Centre's activities in alignment with the government's ambitions to harness AI to deliver a new era of growth and opportunity.
Hugh Brady, President, Imperial College London said:
This is a pivotal moment for UK innovation where the power and creativity of our science and technology can drive economic growth. This new Centre for AI Driven Innovation will unlock AI's potential to transform existing industries.
Anchored in the World Economic Forum global network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the new Centre hosted by Imperial creates a powerful multi-stakeholder platform from research through to scalable real-world innovation and adoption.
Børge Brende, President and CEO of World Economic Forum said:
We are excited to collaborate with Imperial College London and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to launch the Centre for AI Driven Innovation, the first UK-based centre in the World Economic Forum's global Network of Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This milestone comes at a pivotal moment, as AI emerges as a powerful catalyst for prosperity and accelerated transformation across all sectors of the economy. The Centre will play a key role in helping the UK shape the global AI innovation agenda, providing a unique platform for collaboration with one of the world's largest multistakeholder communities of AI experts.
The announcements come as the Technology Secretary prepares to deliver his keynote address to London Tech Week later today, where his speech will set out the range of actions the government is taking to harness technology to boost growth, improve public services, and unlock new opportunities for communities across the UK.
