Anthropic launches Claude Science, a standalone AI product for scientific research

Anthropic announced Claude Science, a new standalone product designed to autonomize scientific research tasks in the same vein as its existing Claude Code product for software engineering. The company positioned the product as a major addition alongside its existing flagship offerings, Claude Code and Claude Cowork, indicating a strategic emphasis on AI’s role in scientific applications.

Claude Science is now available to all paid Claude subscribers and includes access to tools tailored for computational biology and drug development. Anthropic also disclosed plans to use the product internally for research into drugs targeting rare, neglected diseases, underscoring its commitment to the life sciences.

Unlike earlier releases such as the ‘Claude for Life Sciences’ plug-ins introduced in October, Anthropic described Claude Science as a full-featured, standalone product rather than an add-on. The company framed this as part of its mission to develop AI that serves humanity’s long-term well-being, with a particular focus on life sciences.

Anthropic highlighted the product’s ability to autonomously execute high-level scientific tasks when provided with concise instructions, including running code on powerful computer clusters and prioritizing reproducibility to enable verification of results. The company’s head of life sciences, Eric Kauderer-Abrams, emphasized the product’s alignment with Anthropic’s mission and its significance relative to other flagship products.

During a demonstration, Anthropic showed how Claude Science could autonomously identify new drug candidates for phenylketonuria, a rare genetic disease. The product is designed to interface with tools used in genetics, chemistry, and protein biology, aligning with its focus on molecular and cellular biology and drug development.

Anthropic’s decision to prioritize drug development within Claude Science reflects both humanitarian goals and strategic business considerations. The company noted that pharmaceutical companies represent a significant market opportunity, and its pursuit of profitability ahead of an anticipated IPO may benefit from such high-value contracts.

The launch follows Anthropic’s recent hiring of John Jumper, a former DeepMind researcher, and the company’s broader push into AI for science. Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei, who holds a PhD in physics, has emphasized the company’s scientific credentials as a differentiator in the AI industry.