Startups

How this Baltimore company is using AI to make supplements smarter

Insilico Medicine's algorithms were used to help Life Extension develop a new anti-aging supplement.

Insilico Medicine relies on machine learning. (Courtesy photo)

Artificial intelligence is already gaining steam as one of the most-talked-about tech trends of 2017.
It’s one of those umbrella terms that’s easy to throw around. But away from the big conferences and debates about tech’s role in society, the hard work to develop the predictive technology is happening.
One of those spots is the Eastern Campus of the Emerging Technology Centers, where Insilico Medicine is working to develop algorithms that can help select and develop the right drugs. The company sees artificial intelligence as a path to reduce the use of animal testing in developing pharmaceuticals, and is even working on a virtual human to simulate how drugs affect the body.
The latest news from the company shows how its work could help other companies pick out what works and what doesn’t. Insilico’s research on aging (one study was published in the journal Aging) showed how artificial intelligence could help show the specific molecules that influence the aging process.
This was interesting to 37-year-old Life Extension, a company that makes anti-aging supplements. The natural supplement, or nutraceuticals, market is big, but it’s a place where other research studies have questioned whether the supplements actually prevent disease.

Life Extension's Ageless Cell. (Courtesy photo)

Life Extension’s Ageless Cell. (Courtesy photo)


InSilco’s algorithms were used at the early stage of development of a new product to screen for the right compounds to help slow or reverse aging, said Insilico Medicine COO Qingsong Zhu.
Some of the compounds they identified were used in Ageless Cell, a new product in Life Extension’s “Geroprotect” line that was released this week.
“Our collaboration with Insilico Medicine fostered a novel approach to formulating anti-aging supplements utilizing artificial intelligence and sophisticated biologically-inspired algorithms and resulted in the very first AI formulated supplement,” Andrew G. Swick, Life Extension’s senior vice president of scientific affairs, discovery research and product development, said in a statement.
Talk of AI and extending human life seem to go hand-in-hand around tech circles. Both are in play for Insilico Medicine.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Tech lab space opening in new 4MLK building, thanks to $2M in public funds

EDA officials are ‘hopeful’ Tech Hubs program will live on under Trump

AI is being used in more and more of the hiring process, especially at high-volume companies

The 'person of interest' arrested in the UntedHealthcare CEO shooting had a ton of tech connections

Technically Media