Deep Origin Launches First and Only Drug Discovery Assistant with Conversational AI Interface and Top Docking Technology

Chemistry and life science teams can instantly impact drug discovery and upskill work through Balto’s data collection and modeling toolkit

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Deep Origin, the company helping scientists solve diseases and extend healthspan by building tools that simplify R&D, today announced the launch of Balto, the first drug discovery assistant of its kind using proprietary, state-of-the-art molecular modeling tools. Developed by top AI engineers and computational chemists, its AI and physics-based docking and chemical property prediction models outperforms open source and other commercial tools by up to a 10x greater enrichment factor. Balto democratizes access to these models with a simple, conversational interface where users can load a protein structure, dock small molecules to it, analyze pose and docking score, and predict chemical properties. Unlike other chat solutions, Balto is aware of scientific context and concepts. Balto offers users a convenient way to gather information from multiple databases, and synthesize academic literature, simplifying the research process and increasing efficiency.

Today, developing a single new drug is a complex process that can take 12–15 years and cost in excess of $1 billion, without the guarantee of commercial success. This is due in part to the cost of lab and clinical validations, and the challenge of integrating a wide breadth of scientific knowledge in different disciplines and skill sets, ranging from human physiology to chemical synthesis. While tools exist to help find and filter potential drugs, their use is primarily limited to computational chemists because of the steep learning curve. Balto makes these tools accessible to medicinal chemists, who outnumber computational chemists by 10 to 1. This reduces a key bottleneck in drug discovery, enabling far more researchers to simulate potential drugs before making and testing them.

“Balto helps medicinal chemists and research teams expand their capabilities, spending less time searching for information and streamlining access to the state of the art simulation. The unique benefit of Balto is that it gathers data easily across the web databases and moves it into molecular simulations, producing results all within the same interface. We have already seen enthusiasm from research labs, biotech, and pharma teams around the world,” says Michael Antonov, CEO of Deep Origin. “We saw a great opportunity with Balto and our docking tools to make work easier for thousands of researchers. Balto is a significant step for the productivity of the drug discovery community and for us on our mission to model, organize, and accelerate biological R&D, enabling cures through deep understanding of science.”

“The quality and accuracy of our molecular models sets us apart,” says Garyk Papoian, CSO. “Stories of failures from researchers using existing tools highlighted the need for something better. That’s why we built our own suite of molecular modeling tools, from pocket-finding to docking and chemical property predictions. I’m incredibly proud of our team, because we haven’t just produced one top-performing model for one problem in molecular modeling – we’ve produced top models for each step.”

Balto is now accessible here. With Balto, users unlock:

• The ability to explore world-best molecular modeling without any prior training – Balto allows scientists to dive into complex protein-small molecule simulations without needing extensive training or expertise in computational chemistry
• The time-saving potential to load and interrogate molecular information from wide-ranging sources, including PDFs, in a simple conversational interface. Once the data is loaded, it can be fed directly to the simulation tools. Users can learn about molecular simulations as they interact with Balto – the user experience is seamless and requires no learning curve, similar to talking to a colleague
• Greater enrichment factor compared to several other open-source and commercial tools, giving researchers better results in real-world use
• Affordable pricing to democratize access for individual use – Balto Basic will be priced at $32/month

About Deep Origin
Deep Origin is the only biotech company that combines physics, AI, and computational infrastructure to enable faster and better drug discovery. Its mission is to help scientists solve diseases and extend healthspan by building tools that simplify R&D, simulate biology, and untangle the complexity of life. Its tools enable scientists to generate compounds quickly, predict their efficacy reliably, and manufacture them inexpensively. We foster collaboration by bringing together scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to explore the unknown and decipher the mechanisms of life. Discover more at www.deeporigin.com.

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