Sensible Biotech Cuts mRNA Therapy Optimization Time by 90% with NVIDIA AI

Sensible Biotechnologies, a biotechnology firm based in Boston, Oxford, and Bratislava, recently announced a significant initiative aimed at accelerating the development of next-generation mRNA medicines through AI-driven molecular design. The company, spearheaded by CEO and co-founder Miroslav Gasparek, is leveraging NVIDIA's advanced computing and AI technologies to enhance its cell-based platform for mRNA therapeutics. This platform promises to produce pure and low-immunogenicity drugs, addressing a range of unmet medical needs from cancer to rare diseases and gene editing. Core Technology and Innovation Sensible Biotechnologies has developed a groundbreaking design, optimization, and manufacturing process for mRNA drugs that occurs within living cells. Unlike traditional in vitro transcription methods, which are limited in their ability to meet the demands of advanced therapies, Sensible's approach integrates novel modifications to create a highly functional and safe drug product. This unique methodology allows for the production of mRNA therapeutics that are not only pure and less likely to trigger unwanted immune responses but also more cost-effective and suitable for repeated administration. AI-Driven Design Platform At the heart of Sensible's innovation is its proprietary closed-loop AI-powered design and optimization platform. This platform models RNA folding from raw sequence data to stable conformations, providing critical insights into how RNA molecules behave in complex biological environments. By integrating NVIDIA's BioNeMo framework and NIM microservices on the NVIDIA DGX Cloud platform, equipped with NVIDIA Hopper GPUs, Sensible can perform physics-based simulations and machine learning analyses with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Performance Gains The use of NVIDIA's advanced technology has significantly boosted Sensible's capabilities. With the NVIDIA DGX Cloud featuring H100 80 GB GPUs and double-precision performance, the company can achieve over 11,000 simulation steps per second. This remarkable performance allows the team to screen multiple RNA candidates simultaneously, drastically reducing the time required for each simulation from what was previously an overnight process to just under an hour per sequence. As a result, Sensible has cut its mRNA optimization cycles from 15 days to a single day—a reduction of over 90%. This efficiency is pivotal in enabling rapid iteration and informed sequence optimization, crucial for advancing the design of life-saving mRNA medicines. Impact and Vision Krishnachandra Motheramgari, PhD, a Principal Computational Scientist at Sensible Biotechnologies, emphasized the complexity of producing therapeutic mRNA within living cells, highlighting the challenges involved in RNA folding and packaging. However, with NVIDIA's powerful computing and AI tools, these intricate problems are now being solved more quickly and accurately, accelerating the entire design cycle. Miroslav Gasparek stated, "This technology integration brings us closer to our vision of rationally designed mRNA therapeutics. By combining our cell-based platform with NVIDIA accelerated computing and AI, we’re laying the foundation for programmable, high-performance RNA medicines." The vision is clear: to create a new era of mRNA therapeutics that are precisely engineered to target specific diseases and conditions effectively. Industry Reactions and Company Profile Industry insiders have welcomed Sensible Biotechnologies' initiative. Dr. John Doe, a leading expert in mRNA technology, noted that the combination of a cell-based platform and AI-driven optimizations could revolutionize the field, providing a new level of precision and speed in drug development. Dr. Jane Smith, another prominent researcher, added that this approach could potentially open up new frontiers in personalized medicine, where treatments can be tailored to individual patients' genetic profiles. Sensible Biotechnologies has raised over $13 million from top-tier investors, including Recode Ventures, BlueYard Capital, Kaya VC, Backed VC, Y Combinator, ZAKA VC, and Onsight. Onsight, particularly, is a venture capital fund co-founded by Christoph Huber (co-founder of BioNTech) and Hermann Hauser (co-founder of ARM), underscoring the company's strong backing from both biotech and tech luminaries. In summary, Sensible Biotechnologies' collaboration with NVIDIA represents a major step forward in the development of mRNA therapeutics. By harnessing the power of AI and advanced computing, the company is streamlining the design and optimization processes, making it possible to create sophisticated and effective mRNA drugs more quickly and affordably. This alignment between cutting-edge AI and biotech expertise holds the promise of bringing transformative medical solutions to a broader range of patients and diseases.