HHS Invests in Project to Accelerate the Discovery and Development of New Antibiotics Using Generative AI
Summary
On September 26, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced funding for the Transforming Antibiotic R&D with Generative AI to Stop Emerging Threats (TARGET) project. The project aims to use AI to accelerate the discovery and development of new classes of antibiotics. The HHS press release reports that bacterial infections are a leading cause of death worldwide, and there is an urgent need to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Conventional approaches are time- and resource-intensive, requiring manual screening and testing of molecular compounds, the majority of which fail to show antibiotic activity. The TARGET project will use deep learning to identify molecules with antibiotic and pharmaceutical potential and use generative AI to “broaden the pool of candidate molecules.” This project was solicited through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Open Broad Agency Announcement. Phare Bio, in collaboration with the Collins Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard’s Wyss Institute, will lead the project, with a budget of up to $27 million.
