HARTFORD—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) announced AI Therapeutics, based in Guilford, has been named “Innovator of the Month.” Founded by Dr. Jonathan Rothberg in 2013 to advance the clinical development of new therapies to treat lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) and diseases of major unmet need, AI Therapeutics is a pioneer in biotechnology, using deep learning and the integration of public and proprietary data to match drugs to diseases for patients.
During the pandemic, AI Therapeutics has worked on a COVID-19 therapy drug to reduce the viral load and stop the entry of the virus into cells. In July 2020, they partnered with Yale University to begin a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in which patients were treated with their clinical drug, LAM-002A, to reduce viral loads. Murphy visited with Yale and AI Therapeutics in August 2020 to learn more about their breakthroughs in using artificial intelligence (AI) to fight COVID-19; the results of their study are expected in the coming months.
“When I visited AI Therapeutics back in August, I was impressed with their forward-thinking strategy to apply their artificial intelligence expertise and technology toward advancing treatments for COVID-19,” said Murphy. “Like so many other companies in Connecticut, the team at AI Therapeutics stepped up to the plate to find the best treatments to help us beat this pandemic. I’m proud to recognize their innovative work using AI and deep learning to combat COVID-19 and help patients with rare diseases get the treatments they need.”
“We are honored to be recognized by Senator Murphy as Innovator of the Month. We remain dedicated to our mission of bringing life-saving drugs to patients with rare diseases with our pipeline,” said Dr. Brigette Roberts, CEO of AI Therapeutics.
“With this trial, AI Therapeutics and Yale joined forces to act on a humanitarian opportunity to do our part to combat the COVID-19 crisis and are delighted to report that the trial has completed enrollment,” said Dr. Murat Gunel, chair of Yale Neurosurgery and AI Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board.
As one of eight companies part of the Connecticut-based 4Catalyzer, AI Therapeutics leverages its innovative and proprietary Guardian Angel® algorithms to more accurately and efficiently match life-saving orphan drugs to patients with rare disorders and diseases. Their deep learning-based, AI-driven drug development accelerates typically long research and development cycles to help deliver life-saving treatment to patients faster.
In addition to their COVD-19 trial, AI Therapeutics is also advancing drugs into clinical trials as treatments for Bronchiolitis Obliterans (BOS), Pulmonary Sarcoidosis, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), and Cutaneous Sarcoidosis.
Murphy believes entrepreneurship and innovation are the building blocks for a strong economy. In the U.S. Senate, he has introduced two bipartisan pieces of legislation to incentivize angel investors to put more money into startup companies—the Angel Tax Credit Act and the Helping Angels Lead Our Startups (HALOS) Act. Startup companies create an average of 2 million jobs each year.
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