Exclusive-Anthropic quietly sets up biology lab as it ramps AI drug program

San Francisco, September 18 - Anthropic has quietly established a laboratory for physical biology work while expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) drug program, according to two individuals familiar with the matter. The startup established a wet lab in the San Francisco Bay Area to perform experiments on real biological samples, in contrast to its previous reliance on computer simulations.

The Director of Life Sciences, Eric Kauderer-Abrams, clarified that while the lab is not exclusively for drug discovery, it will play a significant role in Anthropic's ambitious goal to develop treatments for diseases that have been neglected by the pharmaceutical industry. The company's CEO, Dario Amodei, is personally motivated by the loss of his father to a disease, which spurred him to pursue groundbreaking AI-driven medical advancements.

However, the company is mindful of public concerns regarding AI's potential to cause catastrophic damage and maintains that human oversight and involvement are crucial for safety. Anthropic aims to accelerate drug development in "undruggable" conditions through AI-assisted drug discovery, such as the creation of bispecific and trispecific antibodies.