Biovista's AI identifies two more drugs for treating COVID-19
Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash
Drug repositioning offers a fast path to COVID-19 therapies
As scientists around the globe race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, public health experts caution it will likely take years to develop and administer. In the meantime, with the virus continuing to spread, the hunt for readily applicable therapies is underway. Here, the latest data science approaches offer a path to identifying such therapies.
Biovista, an AI-driven bioscience firm, is applying augmented and artificial intelligence technology to find treatments that will mitigate disease complications that arise during and after infection. Treating COVID-19 has been especially difficult because it causes multiple complications that affect nearly every organ system in the body: from muscles and fibromyalgia, to kidney and pancreatic function, to cardiopulmonary issues, hyper-inflammation, and even neurological issues.
Biovista is taking direct aim at this challenge with its unique, AI-powered drug repositioning approach
Biovista’s AI platform, Project Prodigy, maps all known drugs against every possible mechanism in which the COVID-19 virus operates and causes complications. The platform goes beyond the capabilities of matching and classifying AIs; it combines all known data points to build entirely new scenarios, thus identifying non-obvious medical solutions and spotting non-linear risks.
“It’s the socially responsible thing to do, with some really badass science and AI behind to support the data.”
This approach is working. Back in March, Biovista released strong mechanistic rationale that suggested Aprotinin and Irbesartan as potential COVID-19 treatments to reduce the effects of the cytokine storm, and to help reduce viral load. The AI platform has also identified two bioactive compounds—lycopene and vitamin D—as potentially useful in treating COVID-19.Today, Biovista has identified Cablivi and Atozet as particularly suited to target specific aspects of blood clotting and inflammation in the context of COVID-19, bringing the total to date to six.
ZingPR spearheads media relations for Biovista
Working in conjunction with Biovista’s AOR, ZingPR orchestrated a comprehensive media outreach strategy to coincide with the company’s latest news. Results included a feature story in Medscape, an interview with the top pharma reporter at AP, and numerous other mentions.
