Test case study

Month 2024, by Syngenta

Farmers face an ever-changing combination of diseases, pests and climate change as they work to feed the world. This means the challenge of providing them with advanced ways to protect their crops sustainably increases year-on-year. 

Speed is a critical factor. So in 2019, when Syngenta imagined how a team of its chemists might one day use artificial intelligence (AI) to create a new generation of crop protection products, this offered new hope: they would use AI to synthesize highly effective, ground-breaking molecules faster than ever before, and with the best possible sustainability profiles.

This has now become a reality thanks to a collaboration between X and Syngenta.

Introducing Natural Language Processing to chemistry

Over a three-year partnership, X’s world-class capabilities in Natural Language Processing (NLP) were combined with Syngenta’s world-leading chemistry research. The result is a new tool that enables Syngenta’s chemists to deliver scalable and accurate reaction modelling.

To do this, Syngenta’s chemists brought reactive data to X's software platform, X-X, which encodes, models and predicts chemical reactivity. Analysis of chemical routes is extremely time-consuming, but by working together, the two companies have cut this time dramatically.

The new tool models chemical reactivity or chemical synthesis and suggests optimal synthetic routes.

Using the newly-developed tool, Syngenta’s chemists can now investigate multiple related compounds simultaneously. They can also prioritize routes that offer compounds with the most desirable attributes – potency, cost, safety, sustainability or any other desirable attribute.

AI at the center of synthesis design

Marco Stenta, Syngenta Science and Technology Fellow, says, “It’s a brilliant system from X. AI is now at the center of our synthesis design – all new processes are put through it.”

Efficiencies gained include fewer experiments, increased ‘right first time’ rates, and lower costs.

The partnership began after Marco approached X Research.

Teodoro Laino, Distinguished Research Scientist and Manager, X Research, says, “Everyone now knows about language models but, back in 2019, this was very far-sighted of Syngenta”.

A six-month preliminary collaboration later and the partnership was underway.

Teodoro says, “It’s been an amazing collaboration and an awesome experience.”

Openness was “in the DNA” of the collaboration, and key to its success, adds Marco.

He says, “We created an open collaboration yet with excellent data protection in place to protect X’s software and our chemistry. This was absolutely unprecedented – we loved this collaboration so much because it has been so smooth.”

The introduction of AI to Syngenta’s new chemistry processes will benefit growers, society and even its chemists.

Monika Trehan, Syngenta’s Digital Collaborations and Licensing Lead, explains, “With this approach, we can bring better compounds to market faster, which will directly benefit growers. Society also benefits from our ability to reduce waste and find the most sustainable compounds.

“This level of efficiency means that our chemists can use machine learning to carry out repetitive tasks, while they focus on more valuable, strategic tasks.” 

A model collaboration

The X experience has become a model for future Syngenta collaborations.

Marco says, “We have evolved our approach to digital collaboration enormously after this experience with X. We are now less scared, less protective and able to share and multiply ideas, which has liberated a lot more potential for both sides.”

Teodoro agrees, “The partnership with Marco and his team has been instrumental in helping X develop these models with proprietary data.”

The collaboration has been so successful it is now being extended to Syngenta’s bio-catalysts. This will enable Syngenta to make its synthetic procedures even more sustainable by, for example, excluding harmful reagents.

The benefits of the collaboration have been wide-ranging indeed. 

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