#12. Can AI help develop the next-generation diabetes drug? (05/16/2025)

In this episode, we discuss TXNIP as a potential therapeutic target for diabetes, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges in developing drugs that inhibit it. The discussion introduces TXNIP's role in beta-cell dysfunction and the development of TIX100, an investigational oral TXNIP inhibitor currently in human trials, as a promising new approach to treating both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes by aiming to preserve beta-cell function. While emphasizing the significant market potential for such a drug, the sources also address the complex drug discovery challenges, including targeting intracellular proteins, achieving selectivity, and mitigating potential off-target effects due to TXNIP's ubiquitous expression. Finally, the sources explore how AI and systems pharmacology could be utilized to overcome some of these challenges in drug development. Produced by Dr. Jake Chen.