The past year provided a peek into the future of biotech and healthcare. Megafirms like Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) led the way, partnering with tech giants such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), to develop AI-powered solutions to medical problems.
While these mainstays take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning, they aren’t the only opportunities for savvy investors. A slew of quality biotech firms are flying under the radar, advancing by leaps and bounds toward changing healthcare forever.
These game-changing firms use AI to analyze mountains of data, develop new drugs, predict disease progression, and provide personalized care. And they’re doing it all at unprecedented speed and accuracy. The result? Life-saving medicines delivered faster. Personalized treatments. And, ultimately, a giant leap toward a future where disease could become a thing of the past.
Recursion Pharma (RXRX)
Recursion Pharma (NASDAQ:RXRX) made waves this week. On Wednesday, the firm reported a hefty $50 million cash infusion from Nvidia to support efforts in developing AI models that speed up drug discovery. The firm’s core function centers around its Recursion Operating System. This technology turns AI loose on massive chemical and biological datasets to help other biotech companies accelerate their pipeline processes.
Drug pipelines, a lengthy process from drug discovery to FDA approval, represent the functional lifeblood of most biotech companies. A snag, slowdown, or regulatory hurdle anywhere in the process can push cash-strapped companies underwater permanently.
Nvidia recognized the potential opportunity in Recursion’s methods and invested accordingly. Recursion CEO Chris Gibson summed up the partnership in a press release: “Our collaboration with NVIDIA represents two best-in-class companies coming together to help solve one of the world’s most difficult challenges, drug discovery. With our powerful dataset and NVIDIA’s accelerated computing capabilities, we intend to create groundbreaking foundation models in biology and chemistry at a scale unlike anything that has ever been released in the biological space.”
Blueprint Medicines (BPMC)
In some ways, Blueprint Medicines (NASDAQ:BPMC) was ahead of its time regarding AI-integrated healthcare solutions. Blueprint, a therapeutic biotech firm focused on cancer and blood disorder treatment, partnered with Proteovant Therapeutics in 2022 to leverage the private company’s AI-enhanced platform. As cancer rates continually increase each year, innovative approaches to oncology research won’t just benefit investors. Instead, they’ll serve the global community’s vital and growing needs.
Avoiding much of the complex science talk, the partnership lets Blueprint use Proteovant’s novel approach to protein degradation research to support its cancer treatment goals. This technique uses the body’s “cellular machinery” to identify and mark faulty or cancerous cells for clinical targeting. A relatively new tool in the oncology kit, the partnership opens new vistas for cancer research and puts Blueprint at the forefront of biotech firms leveraging AI in clinical research.
Exscientia (EXAI)
Like Recursion, Exscientia (NYSE:EXAI) uses AI in its approach to drug discovery. Unlike Recusion, Exscientia aims to develop bespoke drug solutions for patients. Exscientia was the first to bring an AI-designed molecule to clinical testing and recently began evaluating another AI-enhanced therapeutic.
In essence, the firm’s approach lets researchers dive into specific molecules that will benefit individual patients most. When therapeutic research is a complex game of identifying which compounds do as intended and what outcomes are merely byproducts, understanding single-cell outcomes is critical to drug discovery.
The company’s extensive pipeline offers many AI-assisted opportunities for biotech investors. More appealing to investors, though, is the relatively low stock price compared to peers in AI-enabled biotech spaces. Although costly research caused more significant cash outflows in recent periods, the firm has sufficient runway to continue operations and ride the AI wave as they engineer healthcare’s future.
On the date of publication, Jeremy Flint held no positions in the securities mentioned. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.