Member Article

Positive early results for motor neurone disease drug discovered by BenevolentAI

Early test results for a new drug candidate discovered by artificial intelligence (AI) that could potentially delay the onset of motor neurone disease (MND) have been positive, raising hopes for those with the disease and highlighting the potential of the technology.

The study, carried out by The Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), has assessed the efficacy of a drug discovered utilising London-based BenevolentAI’s AI technology.

Led by Dr Richard Mead and Dr Laura Ferraiuolo at SITraN, the research found that there were ‘significant and reproducible indications’ that the proposed drug prevents the death of motor neurones in those suffering from MND, also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The researchers will now move to the next phase of their research which will advance the existing study and assess the drug’s potential for clinical development.

Dr. Richard Mead of SITraN commented: “This is an exciting development in our research for a treatment for ALS. BenevolentAI came to us with some newly identified compounds discovered by their technology - two of which were new to us in the field and, following this research, are now looking very promising.

“Our plan now is to conduct further detailed testing and continue to quickly progress towards a potential treatment for ALS.”

The early positive signs are a vindication for BenevolentAI’s AI-powered clinical discovery platform, which is able to digest vast amounts of clinical data and up-to-date research to hunt out possible connections and drug candidates.

Ken Mulvany, Founder and Chairman of BenevolentAI said: “We understand from SITraN their research demonstrates that the hypothesis and drug candidate that our technology identified has delayed the onset of cell death in the gold standard model of ALS.

“We are incredibly encouraged by these findings. We very much look forward to the results of SITraN’s further studies and are hopeful for the positive impact that this drug could have for people living with ALS.”