An integrated AI-powered platform purpose-built to overcome historical limitations and enable and accelerate natural product drug discovery.
- Access and characterize never-before-seen natural chemistry
- Screen for activity, target and mechanism across many diseases in parallel
- Create better, optimized drug leads using deep learning models
- Rapidly scale for downstream R&D
Uncharted, natural chemistry
A unique collection of compounds derived from never-before-seen fungi, with chemistry sourced directly from the wild.
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We are overturning a stone in natural product drug discovery, capturing biology that has been missed, as it exists in nature.
Conventional fungal collections have been derived almost exclusively from soil. We are exploring fungi from fruiting bodies, animals, insects & plants, where community interactions drive the production of unique bioactive chemistry with increased relevance to human physiology. Our collection is rich in exotic species, with 30% of strains having no match in any public database.
Fungi in the wild are known to produce unique chemistry, different from that cultured in the lab. We embedded a one-of-a-kind, off-grid research station in a temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island to analyze the chemistry of wild fungi growing in their natural environment, providing real-time access to fleeting fruiting bodies and the molecules that they produce. On-site processing, fractionation, and therapeutic profiling capabilities, unmatched in the life science sector, enable us to rapidly screen and characterize never-before-seen bioactive compounds.
Efficient discovery of activity + mechanism
AI-enabled phenotypic screens, customized for natural chemistry, reveal activity and mechanism across diverse diseases in a single experiment.
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We employ ultra-high-throughput phenotypic assays to measure hundreds of cellular and behavioural responses to our chemical collections. Combined with machine learning systems, these screens enable us to broadly interrogate the biological function of chemistry – a process we call Therapeutic Profiling. Large data sets of known drugs are used to train our AI algorithms, which are then able to generate strong predictions on the therapeutic activity and mechanism of action of fungal metabolites. Chemistry is mapped in 3D space based on predicted activity, with compounds clustering to functional neighbourhoods. The colocation of novel chemistry with known therapeutics provides insight into biological activity and cellular target. These functional 3D maps provide us with robust search capabilities to mine fungal chemistry for therapeutic activities.
Chemistry Perfected for Medicine
Generative design of chemistry through deep learning, guided by insights from nature, human biology and pharmacology.
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We use deep learning tools to design new chemistry that is optimized for therapeutic activity. Our approach incorporates functional mapping data, insights from natural product chemistry, and ‘drug likeness’ parameters to power generative models. The result is the creation of novel chemistry tuned for new human therapies. This process greatly accelerates medicinal chemistry campaigns and the nomination of lead candidates.
Modular and Scalable Production
Synthetic biology facilitates production of chemical scaffolds and lead compounds at scale, powering downstream development.
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We gain access to the inaccessible, using proprietary genetic tools to produce rare chemistry at scale. This clears a major hurdle in natural product drug discovery, which has historically been limited by the inability to conveniently access trace and cryptic molecules. Our platform employs an original and proprietary expression chassis that is capable of producing fungal metabolites with unmatched output and efficiency. The system enables us to access both natural products and their chemical derivatives and drastically reduces the cost of obtaining this chemistry.
