Yesterday, 10:03 AM
I’ve been reading about how AI is being used in UK life sciences and healthcare, and I found three startups that apply it in quite different ways: one in drug rescue, one in new drug development and one in clinical information. I’m sharing what each one does and would like to hear what others think.
On the drug rescue side, Ignota Labs is a Cambridge seed-stage company that uses AI to rescue promising drugs that were halted because of safety problems. Plenty of drug candidates are dropped late in development, so the idea of going back to understand the safety issue and see whether a drug can be saved seems like a practical use of AI. I’d be interested to know how realistic that is in practice, and how often a halted drug can really be given a second chance.
On the drug development side, LinkGevity is another Cambridge company, an AI-driven longevity biotech developing first-in-class anti-necrotic drugs, starting with kidney disease. What caught my attention is that it starts with one specific condition rather than trying to tackle ageing in general, which seems like a more focused way to begin. I’m not an expert here, so I’d value the views of anyone who follows biotech or longevity research.
For day-to-day clinical work, Medwise ai is a Leeds-based seed-stage company with an AI clinical search and medical information platform used by NHS clinicians. Finding the right guidance quickly in the middle of a busy clinic is a real challenge, so a search tool built for clinicians makes sense. The big question for me is trust: how much would a clinician rely on an AI-assisted answer, and how would they check it?
Between them, these three cover drug rescue, new treatments and everyday clinical information, which are very different parts of healthcare. Does anyone here work in biotech, the NHS or healthcare technology, and where do you think AI will make the biggest difference? If you know of other UK startups doing similar work, I’d love to hear about them.
On the drug rescue side, Ignota Labs is a Cambridge seed-stage company that uses AI to rescue promising drugs that were halted because of safety problems. Plenty of drug candidates are dropped late in development, so the idea of going back to understand the safety issue and see whether a drug can be saved seems like a practical use of AI. I’d be interested to know how realistic that is in practice, and how often a halted drug can really be given a second chance.
On the drug development side, LinkGevity is another Cambridge company, an AI-driven longevity biotech developing first-in-class anti-necrotic drugs, starting with kidney disease. What caught my attention is that it starts with one specific condition rather than trying to tackle ageing in general, which seems like a more focused way to begin. I’m not an expert here, so I’d value the views of anyone who follows biotech or longevity research.
For day-to-day clinical work, Medwise ai is a Leeds-based seed-stage company with an AI clinical search and medical information platform used by NHS clinicians. Finding the right guidance quickly in the middle of a busy clinic is a real challenge, so a search tool built for clinicians makes sense. The big question for me is trust: how much would a clinician rely on an AI-assisted answer, and how would they check it?
Between them, these three cover drug rescue, new treatments and everyday clinical information, which are very different parts of healthcare. Does anyone here work in biotech, the NHS or healthcare technology, and where do you think AI will make the biggest difference? If you know of other UK startups doing similar work, I’d love to hear about them.