EMBL Spin-off DenovAI Will Combine AI and Biophysics for Therapeutic Antibodies
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A new company, DenovAI Biotech, founded by former EMBL staff scientist Kashif Sadiq, aims to accelerate the discovery of therapeutic antibodies by integrating artificial intelligence with computational biophysics. Antibodies show promise for treating diseases ranging from cancer to autoimmune disorders, but identifying effective candidates from billions of potential sequences is a significant challenge; the process is currently laborious, costly, and often yields ineffective results. DenovAI will employ a novel de novo protein design platform, creating antibodies and small protein biologics from scratch using AI-powered solutions. “This approach is different from what has been done before,” said Sadiq, who aims to reduce discovery timelines from months to days with support from investors including Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Merck. The company builds upon research initially developed at EMBL Heidelberg, licensed through EMBL Enterprise Management Technology Transfer GmbH.
De Novo Protein Design Platform Accelerates Antibody Discovery The search for effective antibody therapies is expected to accelerate thanks to a novel approach to protein design originating from research at EMBL Heidelberg. Existing processes, while promising, are often hampered by being laborious, costly, and frequently ineffective at identifying functional antibodies from the billions of potential sequences. The company’s core innovation is an AI-powered biophysics solution intended to identify promising antibody candidates and small protein biologics for therapeutic applications, potentially extending into diagnostics, enzyme, and biomaterial design. This new platform builds upon recent breakthroughs in protein structure prediction, artificial intelligence algorithms, and the growing availability of antigen-antibody structural data. Sadiq intends to combine these advancements to discover antibody sequences and structures capable of strongly binding to any protein antigen, a feat previously challenging to achieve with existing methods. Jendrusch will continue his doctoral work at EMBL Heidelberg while contributing to the company’s efforts, stating, “It is a fantastic opportunity for me to be involved in translating our theoretical research into real-life applications.” The company has secured investment from pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Merck, and Teva, alongside support from Amazon Web Services and the Israel Innovation Authority, indicating confidence in its potential to disrupt the field. EMBL-Licensed AI Technology Drives Therapeutic Sequence Prediction Currently, the search for effective therapeutic antibodies relies on evaluating a vast sequence space, a process often hindered by its inherent cost and inefficiency. While existing methods show promise, identifying functional antibodies from billions of potential candidates remains a significant hurdle for pharmaceutical development. DenovAI Biotech, a recently founded start-up originating from EMBL Heidelberg, is attempting to overcome these limitations by leveraging artificial intelligence and computational biophysics to predict therapeutic antibody sequences. The company’s core strategy centers on de novo protein design, a computational approach that constructs proteins from scratch rather than modifying existing structures, which promises a faster and more targeted discovery process. “Sitting at the intersection between biophysics, biotechnology and AI, DenovAI has the potential to revolutionise innovation in drug discovery. That is our shared goal,” Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs Source: https://www.embl.org/news/science/using-artificial-intelligence-to-discover-therapeutic-antibodies/ Tags: Quantum News There is so much happening right now in the field of technology, whether AI or the march of robots. Adrian is an expert on how technology can be transformative, especially frontier technologies. But Quantum occupies a special space. Quite literally a special space. A Hilbert space infact, haha! Here I try to provide some of the news that is considered breaking news in the Quantum Computing and Quantum tech space. Latest Posts by Quantum News: Rotonium to Highlight Integration of Quantum Computing into Hybrid Workflows March 17, 2026 Roche Expands AI Infrastructure for Drug Discovery with NVIDIA GPUs March 17, 2026 Qblox Enables Real-Time Quantum Acceleration with NVIDIA CUDA-Q Integration March 17, 2026