Collaborative Innovations
How Insilico Medicine & Syngenta are using AI for sustainable product innovation...
Farmers, regulators and society expect modern crop protection products to meet a wide range of criteria. They not only need to be effective against the target disease, weed or pest but also harmless to non-target organisms, humans and the environment. Designing products that meet all of these expectations has become highly complex.
Four years ago, Syngenta scientists began exploring the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to help invent and develop a new generation of crop protection solutions – not just effective tools, but also safer and more sustainable by design.
The collaboration between Insilico Medicine and Syngenta has delivered novel leads against two biochemical targets of interest.
Bringing drug discovery AI to crop science
During three years of collaboration, Insilico Medicine and Syngenta have pioneered a new approach to crop science research.
For the first time, Insilico Medicine’s AI-powered small molecule generative chemistry technology has been successfully transferred from pharmaceuticals to crop science.
“There is a limit to how many parameters a human brain can manage when designing a molecule. Insilico Medicine’s AI platform has helped us with multi-dimensional design – optimizing multiple parameters – to deliver effective, safe and sustainable molecules.”
Suzanna Dale, Group Leader, Weed Control Chemistry, Syngenta
Exploring AI-powered small molecule generative chemistry
Syngenta was initially attracted to collaborating with Insilico Medicine because of its excellent track record.
The company uses deep generative AI models to design, synthesize and validate new pharmaceutical active ingredients. In 2019, the company used its generative chemistry AI to develop a novel molecule for a known molecular target in just 46 days – a process that usually takes several years.
Syngenta’s ambition was to unlock new, tailored solutions for farmers in different geographies. This highly complex task – delivering precise products for specific soils, specific temperatures and specific agricultural practices – is extremely challenging using traditional methods.
The team believed that Insilico Medicine’s ground-breaking approaches could be adapted to benefit crop science. Suzanna says that hypothesis has proven correct.
“We’ve found new areas of chemistry. The real value of the collaboration for us has been in identifying and exploring these new chemical spaces quickly with a different invention approach. Some areas we have identified are totally novel,” she says.
One of the best collaborations
The partnership began in 2020, after Syngenta approached Insilico Medicine at the highest levels.
Both teams found the learning curve steep.
Bogdan Zagribelnyy, Senior Researcher in Medicinal Chemistry and CADD, Insilico Medicine, describes working with Syngenta as “one of the best collaborations we have undertaken.”
The project also fulfilled one of Insilico Medicine’s strategic goals, as well as the Syngenta team being able to gain insights into optimizing its scientific data for use with AI.
“My background is in pharmaceuticals so I was sceptical as I had never worked in plant biology. But the expertise and knowledge transfer on scientific problems was really enjoyable as we worked towards finding answers and generating results.”
Bogdan Zagribelnyy, Senior Researcher in Medicinal Chemistry and CADD, Insilico Medicine
“It was the first time we jumped from drug discovery to other areas of chemistry. We've always been interested in entering other areas of research, so this was an exciting opportunity for us to demonstrate that. We believe we can lift and shift this technology to benefit other industries.”
Petrina Kamya, Global Head of AI Platforms and President, Insilico Medicine Canada
“Transferring this technology is a two-way street. Our teams learned how Insilico Medicine’s technology could be adapted but it also helped us learn about the data we generate and its suitability for this technology. This insight will inform how we generate data in future.”
Adrian Longstaff, Weed Control Chemistry Portfolio Lead, Syngenta
The discovery of novel areas of chemistry with a desirable holistic profile through the collaboration confirms the potential of AI to deliver a new generation of sustainable crop protection solutions.
Describing a collaboration in which “both sides have been highly motivated to identify the challenges, open to new hypotheses and try new ideas in order to succeed,” Petrina concludes, “such nuances are key to a successful collaboration.”
With a strong and productive relationship in place, both teams are now prepared for future collaborations.
Looking for other ways to work with us?
Shoots by Syngenta is a platform built on collaboration, designed to advance sustainable agriculture by bringing together ideas, technologies and research. Discover more about what we do, and how you can be a part of it, below.
