Episode: 73 - PANEL DISCUSSION: Near-Term Challenges for AI/ML in Biotherapeutic R&D

June 10, 2025 | This episode of The Chain features a panel discussion from May’s PEGS Boston. Moderated by Peter Tessier, Albert M. Mattocks professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chemical Engineering at the University of Michigan, the panelists include Sarel Fleishman, professor of Biomolecular Sciences at the Weizmann Institute of Science; Kadina Johnston, senior specialist of Discovery Biologics at Merck & Co.; Vincent Ling, chief business officer of Morphocell Technologies; Arvind Rajpal, SVP of Xaira; and Max Vasquez, chief computing officer of Adimab. Together they discuss benchmarking AI/ML methods compared to traditional approaches, development of human-relevant training data, identifying and addressing core challenges in de novo designs, and more. Links from this episode:  PEGS Boston Conference & Expo Engineering Bispecific Antibodies University of Michigan University of Michigan Chemical Engineering Weizmann Institute of Science Scala Biodesign Merck & Co., Inc. Morphocell Technologies Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Xaira Adimab LLC