Geometric Deep Learning Pioneer Michael Bronstein joins VantAI as Chief Scientist in Residence to Help Drive Artificial Intelligence Breakthroughs in Drug Discovery

Dr. Bronstein, the DeepMind Professor of AI at Oxford, will help VantAI unlock the potential of induced proximity

NEW YORK, July 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — VantAI, a leader in ML technologies for drug discovery, is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Michael Bronstein as Chief Scientist in Residence. Bronstein is the DeepMind Professor of AI at the University of Oxford and an internationally acclaimed scientist with a track record of excellence in geometric deep learning. He will play a pivotal role in helping VantAI unlock the potential of induced proximity as a novel and transformative therapeutic modality.

This appointment underscores VantAI’s commitment to innovation in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and drug discovery, marking a new chapter in VantAI’s continued effort to drive generative AI capabilities in induced proximity drug discovery.

“We are thrilled to have Michael join the VantAI team” said Zach Carpenter, VantAI’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our vision is to build technology that can bring any two proteins together in the cell using small molecules. Central to our efforts here is the push to understand and engineer the geometry of molecular interactions, such as those occurring between protein surfaces. Michael’s leadership in geometric deep learning is a perfect match for these problems, and we view his addition to the team as an important step towards transitioning molecular glue drug discovery from serendipity to rational, AI-guided design.”

Michael Bronstein said: “Molecular design is a field posed to particularly benefit from geometric machine learning and I am excited to join and help lead VantAI’s efforts to harness this technology. VantAI’s unique screening and data generation capabilities and ambitious vision for the field of induced proximity are a rare combination, and I look forward to working with them to develop transformative medicines for patients.”

About Induced Proximity
The field of induced proximity involves the synthetic modulation of protein interactions within cells (such as with small molecules like molecular glues and PROTACs). Initially focused on protein degradation, where the cell’s endogenous E3 ligases are chemically rerouted to degrade disease-causing proteins, the emerging modality now spans numerous other effector classes. While traditional small molecule drugs are typically limited to inhibition or activation as a mode of action, induced proximity promises to turn the diverse capabilities of proteins into a programmable and modular toolkit for targeting disease. This approach offers the potential to precisely control cellular processes involved in complex regulatory circuits such as those in cancer, aging, and neurodegeneration, as well as target previously ‘undruggable’ proteins, paving the way for next-generation therapies with the potential for far-reaching clinical impact.

About VantAI
VantAI is at the forefront of applying artificial intelligence technologies to drug discovery. With a cross-disciplinary team of world-class scientists and engineers, VantAI is uniquely suited to power a best-in-class solution for induced proximity, where the nuance of protein-protein interactions, such as those in protein degradation, has outsized influence on drug success. VantAI has collaborated with and achieved milestones for numerous leading biopharma partners on difficult to drug targets leading to the launch of new development programs with exciting properties. For more information, please visit www.vant.ai

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Stephanie Lee
Stephanie.lee@roivant.com