As Antibiotic-Resistant Era Looms, Artificial Intelligence Could Be The Answer To These Superbugs
Researchers have now used machine learning to identify a molecule that appears capable of countering some of the world’s most formidable pathogens. Structurally the molecule is different than existing antibiotics, but it was found to be effective in mice. Meanwhile, Gilead was dealt another blow in its patent fight with the U.S. over drugmaker's HIV pill.
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Machine Learning Finds A Novel Antibiotic Able To Kill Superbugs
For decades, discovering novel antibiotics meant digging through the same patch of dirt. Biologists spent countless hours screening soil-dwelling microbes for properties known to kill harmful bacteria. But as superbugs resistant to existing antibiotics have spread widely, breakthroughs were becoming as rare as new places to dig. Now, artificial intelligence is giving scientists a reason to dramatically expand their search into databases of molecules that look nothing like existing antibiotics. (Ross, 2/20)
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Gilead Loses Another Challenge To U.S. Patents For HIV Prevention
For the second time this month, Gilead Sciences (GILD) has lost a bid to invalidate patents owned by the U.S. government for using the Truvada pill to prevent HIV, which has been at the center of controversy over its cost and the extent to which taxpayer dollars funded key research. The Patent Trial and Appeals Board ruled Gilead failed to demonstrate it was likely to win its argument for overturning two patents held by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which helped fund academic work into HIV prevention that later formed the basis for the pill, also known as PrEP. (Silverman, 2/20)
