Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announce A Phase I SBIR Award From NIEHS/NIH To Develop Machine Learning Software Approaches To Predict Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition

Raleigh – The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has awarded $256,385 to Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPI) to develop new machine learning models for prediction of acetylcholinesterase inhibition.

“Organophosphorus (OP) pesticides are one of the most common causes of poisoning worldwide and it is estimated there are nearly 3 million poisonings per year resulting in three hundred thousand deaths (8000 in the US). OPs bind to acetylcholinesterase (AChE), rendering the enzyme incapable of hydrolyzing acetylcholine in the cholinergic synapses and neuromuscular junctions. We propose to develop software to auto-curate available literature data on AChE from human and other species in order to build and validate machine learning models generated with multiple algorithms. These models will then be used to identify potential molecules that bind to AChE in order to predict potential for poisoning across species and environmental contamination” said Sean Ekins, CEO, CPI. 

This project will build on our Assay CentralÒ software already developed by CPI to enable the generation of machine learning models using data from public or private sources. We will validate the models developed using literature data not in the models to enable the understanding of the applicability to different chemical series besides OPs.

Ultimately these technologies and models will be made commercially available.

Disclaimer

“Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute Of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1R43ES033855-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.”