Mydecine Innovations Group Inc (OTC:MYCOF, NEO:MYCO) has revealed a new milestone in its artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery program.
The company announced it had completed a target-based model of serotonin receptor 5-HT2A, which will allow the company to quickly screen billions of compounds.
Mydecine said the model will help the company to understand the novel compounds that are most likely to increase binding ability, thus improving second and third generation psychedelic molecules for medical use.
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Using artificial intelligence (AI) in drug development will help to reduce or eliminate costly and time-consuming manual efforts, Mydecine told investors, and eliminating potential candidates that are likely to fail early in the process.
“AI gives us an incredibly robust tool for screening potential novel psychedelic compounds,” Mydecine’s chief scientific officer Rob Roscow said in a statement. “This screening gives us increased confidence in investing in the later stages of our drug development and enables rapid development in our pipeline.”
Mydecine’s 5-HT2A AI models construct billions of new drug candidates and filter them for their ability to modulate the 2A receptor activity, according to Khaled Barakat, principal investigator with Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation.
“These AI models also predict the interactions and affinity of each drug candidate to the level of a single atom,” commented Barakat.
“By considering the unique structural and dynamical fingerprint of the 2A receptor, our AI drug discovery program paves the road towards designing selective 5-HT2A modulators which reduce any potential side effects that may emerge in the future.”
The 5-HT2A receptor model is considered a “classic psychedelic serotonin receptor” because it triggers a psychedelic experience as well as neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to reorganize its neural pathways to accomplish the needed outcome. Neuroplasticity is a critical component for successful psychedelic-assisted-psychotherapy.
Mydecine is a Denver-based biotechnology and digital technology company developing innovative first-and-second-generation novel therapeutics for the treatment of mental health and addiction through world-class technology and drug development infrastructure.
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