Anthropic announces plans to develop drugs internally while launching AI workbench for scientists

Anthropic announced at the event 'The Briefing: AI for Science' that it is developing Claude Science, an AI workbench for scientists designed to consolidate fragmented tools and datasets into a single environment and generate figures and visuals.

The company also disclosed plans to develop drugs internally, with a focus on treatments for neglected diseases, according to Eric Kauderer-Abrams, head of life sciences at Anthropic.

Anthropic framed the initiative as part of AI's potential to 'dramatically accelerate the pace of scientific discovery and the development of healthcare interventions,' and noted that a long list of biotech and pharma customers are already using its Claude models.

The company provided few specific details about its drug development ambitions, including which diseases it plans to target first or whether it would partner with other organizations for lab work, animal testing, clinical trials, or manufacturing.

Experts interviewed by The Verge described 'AI drug discovery' as a broad term encompassing various stages of drug development, from identifying new compounds to supporting clinical trials and manufacturing.

Namshik Han, a professor at the University of Cambridge and cofounder of AI biotech startup CardiaTec, said AI is applied at 'every single stage of drug discovery,' including finding new compounds, improving them, and supporting research and data analysis.

Matthew Todd, a professor of drug discovery at University College London, echoed that AI is a 'catchall phrase' given its wide-ranging uses in drug discovery, though he emphasized that AI models have not yet eliminated the need for human input and real-world testing.

Frank von Delft, a professor of structural chemical biology at the University of Oxford, noted that AI models 'haven’t yet come close to making experiments unnecessary,' as drug candidates still require efficacy, toxicity, and safety testing in real-world settings.