Imagine a world where creating life-saving drugs is as easy as following a recipe. That’s the vision of Onepot AI, a groundbreaking company that just secured $13 million in funding to revolutionize chemical drug creation.
Daniil Boiko and Andrei Tyrin, the founders of Onepot AI, shared a common frustration: the synthesis process was holding back drug discovery. Synthesis, the art of crafting new molecules through chemical reactions, is akin to assembling a puzzle or cooking a dish, combining small molecules like ingredients to create something larger.
But here’s the catch: creating these building blocks, the small molecules, is no easy feat. Boiko, a Ph.D. candidate in machine learning and chemistry, witnessed drug hunters discarding promising ideas solely because the chemical molecules seemed too complex to synthesize.
And this is where Onepot AI steps in. Boiko and Tyrin, with his background in computer science, realized that while computational models could generate ideas swiftly, the lab work lagged far behind. They identified a critical gap: the world was investing heavily in molecular design but neglecting the intricate challenge of molecule synthesis.
A geopolitical twist: Boiko added, “Global supply chains are fragile, and with the U.S. entering a trade war with China, rebuilding small-molecule synthesis in the U.S. is imperative.”
Onepot AI’s solution? POT-1, a small-molecule synthesis lab, and Phil, an AI-powered organic chemist. Together, they accelerate compound synthesis for biotech and pharma companies. On Wednesday, the company emerged from stealth mode, revealing its impressive funding, including pre-seed and seed rounds.
The current process for molecular synthesis is time-consuming and costly, with human chemists spending months and thousands of dollars to create a single compound. It’s a trial-and-error process, analyzing compounds, studying biological activity, and planning experiments. Tyrin emphasizes, “The bottleneck is not testing but initial synthesis. We aim to reduce this timeline to mere days.”
Onepot AI’s offering is straightforward. Clients select compounds from their catalog, and Onepot’s technology synthesizes and delivers the molecules. Behind the scenes, Boiko and Tyrin’s team dissects the complexities of chemical synthesis, training AI agents on molecule recipes to uncover successful combinations.
Their lab captures every detail of experiments, ensuring reproducibility. Unlike traditional methods, their agents learn from real-world experiments, not just literature data. The fundraising journey was intense, leading to a multi-hour whiteboard session with their lead investor and attracting prominent investors like Khosla Ventures and OpenAI co-founder Wojciech Zaremba.
With the new funding, Onepot AI plans to establish a second lab in San Francisco, expand its team, and enhance its compound discovery capabilities. Boiko and Tyrin aim to double the speed of drug discovery and challenge the boundaries of what chemistry can achieve.
But here’s where it gets controversial: Are we ready to embrace AI-driven chemistry? Will it unlock new possibilities or raise ethical concerns? The founders believe it will expand the design space for drugs and materials, potentially uncovering life-changing discoveries. What do you think? Is Onepot AI the future of drug creation, or is there a hidden catch? Share your thoughts in the comments!