A made-in-Canada AI solution to accelerate drug discovery and fight superbugs

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how we identify new drugs to address antimicrobial resistance. A research team from McMaster University is harnessing the power of AI to help healthcare professionals find new treatments against drug-resistant superbugs and save lives.

Bacteria can evolve to resist antibiotics, making it difficult for doctors to pinpoint effective treatments before it is too late. A recent study estimates that between now and 2050, two million people will die each year from drug-resistant infections. More access to antibiotics could save millions of lives, but developing effective treatments is one of the many challenges in the fight against drug-resistant bacteria.

“Discovering and developing a new drug is time-consuming and expensive, and unfortunately, drug companies often lack the financial incentives to discover new antibiotics,” says Dr. Jonathan Stokes at McMaster University. In search of a fast and inexpensive method to identify new chemicals with antibacterial properties, he turned to AI.

His team trained a “superbug killing” algorithm capable of predicting the most promising compounds for the development of effective drugs such as antibiotics. In 2023, the researchers discovered a compound with great potential to kill Acinetobacter baumannii, a pathogen that causes pneumonia, sepsis, and other deadly infections in vulnerable patients in hospitals.

A contemporary AI algorithm can quickly sift through billions of molecular compounds and design many potential “recipes” for new medications. However, it is not always practical to create them in a lab. “You can design the most beautiful molecule in the world on a computer,” says Dr. Stokes, “but what’s the point if this chemical is not going to help anybody because you can’t synthesize it in the real world?”

Dr. Stokes does not seem to think that his work ends at identifying promising molecules. Wanting to make these life-saving treatments available to patients, he launched Stoked Bio, an independent biotech startup that works closely with the McMaster Industry Liaison Office.

The Stoked Bio team is looking for treatments against bacterial, fungal and viral infections, and cancer. Their goal? To simplify and accelerate drug discovery and development in Canada: “We are applying AI models to therapeutic areas with significant unmet clinical needs, something the world actually needs.”

At a glance

Issue

It is estimated that between now and 2050, two million people will die each year from drug-resistant infections.

Research

Harnessing the power of AI, Dr. Jonathan Stokes and team have designed a superbug killing algorithm to simplify and accelerate the discovery of new drugs against antibiotic-resistant superbugs.