Case Study: Optibrium achieves novel antimalarial discovery success with Intellegens Alchemite

Machine learning identifies novel antimalarial compound in global challenge

Optibrium partnered with Intellegens to tackle a global Open Source Malaria Consortium challenge: finding new antimalarial compounds with a novel mechanism of action despite very sparse experimental bioactivity data. Using Intellegens’ Alchemite™ deep learning software within Optibrium’s drug discovery workflow, the team set out to identify promising candidates that traditional approaches might miss.

Intellegens applied Alchemite™ to predict the activity of newly generated compounds, and one suggested molecule was synthesized and experimentally validated with good potency, closely matching the model’s prediction. The approach outperformed conventional QSAR and other AI models in a blind test, helped win a competition prize, and showed measurable value by uncovering a compound that chemists said they would likely have dismissed.

Optibrium

Matthew Todd

Professor of Drug Discovery at UCL School of Pharmacy and Founder