Why I’m Excited to Join the Drug Creation Revolution at Absci
Nov 01, 2022
November 1, 2022
As a scientist and executive at some of the largest pharma R&D organizations in the world I have dedicated my career to getting better drugs to patients, faster – a core tenet and mission that Absci and I share. One thing I’ve always known is that improving the probability of success for drugs entering the clinic and bringing down the time it takes to get them there are paramount to successfully completing this mission. To this end, it’s been clear to me for a long while that a major technology to be leveraged in the future for this purpose should be artificial intelligence. Across early-stage drug discovery especially, there are numerous ways I saw that AI could be used to help with everything from target identification and validation to hit finding, lead optimization, and so forth – if it was supported by the right digital approach with large amounts of high quality data.
When I first heard of Absci in early 2022 I immediately started diving into the company’s technology platform and scientific underpinnings. What immediately struck me was how fully the company had integrated its biological data with its artificial intelligence function. I strongly believe if you want to be successful applying artificial intelligence, you have to do that on the basis of great data and lots of data. At Absci I saw not only a wet lab function that enabled them to produce billions of high quality data points on the fly, but also fully integrated that data in a positive feedback loop with the AI function. It was apparent that this was a major differentiating factor from any company I had seen and I was quickly convinced that Absci was in a great position to very quickly, once establishing a target, deliver a great antibody.
Now coming from the pharma world I don’t just think in terms of ‘oh this is a great technology’, I think in terms of how technologies can be integrated in a way to produce a pipeline of effective medicines. Looking at Absci’s platform I didn’t just see this supreme integration of wet lab and AI functions, I also saw technology to mine a patient’s own immune system for new therapeutic targets, a track record of scientific breakthroughs, an incredibly talented team, and a vision to bring it all together. When I considered this entire mix I was not only impressed, I was blown away by the possibilities for them to not only deliver a single great antibody, but to produce a robust pipeline of novel therapeutics that would be not months, but years faster than existing methods.
I am still in awe with the technology platform and team that Sean has built. When presented with the opportunity to join Absci as Chief Innovation Officer and take part in developing what I believe to be one of most groundbreaking biopharma companies in the industry I knew it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up. Companies like Absci that have the right mix of technology and talent, and come along at the perfect time to shake up an entire industry don’t come around often and I’m thrilled to join them in leading the protein drug creation revolution. The next chapter for Absci will be critical as we continue to focus on developing our technology, expanding the capabilities of our platform and driving forward in our mission to get better drugs to patients, faster. I am certain, however, that with the persistent tenacity and unrelenting passion for achieving the impossible that the Absci team possesses we will be successful and we will bring new medicines to patients holding out hope around the world.
Let’s build something special together.
Andreas Busch