Ep 61: Co-Founder of Chai Discovery Joshua Meier on 99% Faster Drug Discovery, BioTech’s AlphaGo Moment, Building Photoshop for Molecules

The podcast explores the current state and future potential of AI in drug discovery, featuring Joshua Meier, CEO and co-founder of Chai Discovery. Meier discusses the evolution of AI in biology, from early deep learning models for protein folding to the latest foundation models capable of de novo design. He highlights the transition from predicting protein structures to designing new molecules that modulate existing ones, emphasizing Chai Discovery's work on atomic-level drug design with success rates exceeding initial expectations. The conversation touches on the importance of data quality, the role of open-source models, and the potential for AI to revolutionize the drug discovery process by enabling more efficient hypothesis testing and the creation of previously unattainable therapeutics.