The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has launched the AI Small Molecule Drug Discovery Center, with the aim of harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise drug development.  

The new Center will integrate AI with traditional drug discovery methods to identify and design new small-molecule therapeutics with greater speed and precision. 

By leveraging Mount Sinai’s expertise in machine learning, chemical biology, and biomedical data science, the Center hopes to bring innovative treatments to patients faster—particularly for diseases with urgent unmet needs, including cancer, metabolic disorders, and neurodegenerative diseases. 

“At Mount Sinai, we are dedicated to redefining the future of medical innovation,” said Avner Schlessinger, Professor of Pharmacological Sciences and Associate Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Therapeutics Discovery at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who will lead the Center. “By integrating artificial intelligence with cutting-edge chemistry and biology, we can dramatically accelerate drug discovery and develop new treatments for some of the most complex and pressing diseases.” 

The Center will focus on three core areas: designing novel drug-like molecules using generative AI, optimising existing compounds to enhance their efficacy and safety, and predicting drug-target interactions to repurpose known drugs or natural products for new indications. 

A major strength of this AI-powered strategy lies in its capacity to explore chemical space on a scale far beyond human capability.  

“Vast combinatory possibilities in optimal drug design lead to high costs, lengthy timelines, and low success rates,” said Ming-Ming Zhou, Dr Harold and Golden Lamport Professor in Physiology and Biophysics and Chair of the Department of Pharmacological Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “AI efficiently navigates this complex landscape, pinpointing the most promising candidates—an achievement unimaginable just a few years ago.”

Image shows: L to R: Mount Sinai CEO Brendan Carr, Amabel James and Hamilton Evans “Tony” James, and Eric Nestler at a recent ribbon-cutting for the Hamilton and Amabel James Center for Artificial Intelligence and Human Health of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Diana Spencer, Senior Digital Content Editor, DDW