ABU DHABI, UAE, Oct. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Diabetes is a chronic condition characterized by elevated blood glucose levels, stemming from the body’s inability to produce enough insulin or use it effectively. According to the International Diabetes Federation, as of 2024, an estimated 589 million adults worldwide are living with diabetes—with prevalence particularly high among older adults, as one in four individuals aged 65 and above is affected.
November 2025 will mark the 19th World Diabetes Day, a global call to action in the fight against one of the world’s most critical health challenges. In alignment with this year’s theme of “Diabetes and Well-being,” InsilicoMedicine, a clinical-stage biotechnology company driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI), is harnessing its proprietary AI engine Biology42: Generative Biologics to drive innovative breakthroughs in diabetes therapy development.
In a recent pioneering study, Insilico has demonstrated the remarkable potential of generative biologics to rapidly design peptides targeting GLP1R—the receptor modulated by blockbuster diabetes drugs such as Ozempic. Leveraging its Biology42: Generative Biologics engine, Insilico’s R&D team generated over 5,000 novel peptides within a 72-hour cycle, without referencing any known GLP1R binders. From these, 20 top candidates were selected for synthesis and wet-lab evaluation based on predicted affinity scores and computed binding energies. Notably, 14 of the tested peptides showed biological activity, with 3 exhibiting single-digit nanomolar potency – performance typically achieved only after multiple design iterations.
“GLP-1 is a critically important target in the cardiometabolic disease space, which remains a significant global challenge and a key focus for Insilico.” said Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine. “We are excited to be witnessing rapid progress in this area, made possible by the advanced capabilities of our AI platform. At BIO-Europe 2025, we look forward to sharing further updates on Insilico’s AI-driven pipeline discoveries in cardiometabolic diseases. We also welcome the opportunity to foster in-depth collaborations with industry partners—whether in advancing AI innovation or in the pipeline of novel therapies.”
“These findings highlight the transformative potential of Biology42: Generative Biologics in accelerating the discovery and design of novel protein-based therapeutics,” said Alex Aliper, PhD, Co-Founder and President of Insilico Medicine. “Our generative AI platform is designed to create potent, functional biologics from scratch, rapidly and with high precision. This achievement not only demonstrates the strength of our technology in the biologics space but also reinforces Insilico’s ability to drive innovation across a wide range of therapeutic modalities and disease areas.”
This case study showcases how Insilico is propelling the development of next-generation diabetes therapies and advancing peptides discovery by leveraging cutting-edge technology with deep scientific expertise—reinforcing global efforts to improve patient health and well-being. It also validates the Biology42: Generative Biologics platform as a robust, high-throughput capable of identifying potent, novel peptides in record time, highlighting its potential at the forefront of next-generation biologic drug discovery.
Building on this success, Insilico Medicine plans to further improve the Biology42: Generative Biologics platform by enhancing its algorithms and expanding its capabilities to target more complex and diverse biologic targets. The company also intends to apply the platform across additional challenging therapeutic areas, streamlining the discovery of novel biologics candidates ready for preclinical development. Furthermore, iterative design cycles informed by experimental feedback will be integrated to continuously improve the potency and specificity of biologics.
Since establishing its generative AI and drug R&D center in Abu Dhabi in 2023, Insilico has advanced AI algorithm development and built strong industry collaborations across the Middle East. Notable achievements include publishing research in npj Aging and launching the AI-driven multimodal Precious GPT series for longevity research, as well as partnering with leading institutions to publish research in Nature Biotechnology on designing KRAS inhibitors using quantum-classical hybrid models.
Insilico was recognized with the Health Innovation Trailblazer Award from the UAE Genetic Diseases Society for its end-to-end AI-driven drug discovery platform, Pharma.AI. Most recently, Insilico launched a pilot project in the Middle East to discover the region’s first novel oncology drug candidate, leveraging its Pharma.AI platform and local resources to accelerate preclinical development.
Harnessing state-of-the-art AI and automation technologies, Insilico has significantly improved the efficiency of preclinical drug development, setting a benchmark for AI-driven drug R&D. While traditional early-stage drug discovery typically requires 2.5 to 4 years, Insilico has nominated 20 preclinical candidates with an average timeline—from project initiation to preclinical candidate (PCC) nomination—of just 12 to 18 months per program, with only 60 to 200 molecules synthesized and tested in each program.
About Biology42: Generative Biologics
Biology42: Generative Biologics is Insilico Medicine’s AI-powered platform designed to generate and optimize various types of biologics, including peptides, antibodies, and nanobodies. The platform leverages cutting-edge generative models to design novel biologics with desired properties, enabling rapid exploration of sequence and structural space. By integrating computational design with predictive scoring, Biology42 accelerates the discovery of potent, biologically active candidates for therapeutic development. For more information, please visit https://pharma.ai/generativebiologics
About Insilico Medicine
Insilico Medicine, a leading and global AI-driven biotech company, utilizes its proprietary Pharma.AI platform and cutting-stage automated laboratory to accelerate drug discovery and advance innovations in life sciences research. By integrating AI and automation technologies and deep in-house drug discovery capabilities, Insilico is delivering innovative drug solutions for unmet needs including fibrosis, oncology, immunology, pain, and obesity and metabolic disorders. Additionally, Insilico extends the reach of Pharma.AI across diverse industries, such as advanced materials, agriculture, nutritional products and veterinary medicine. For more information, please visit www.insilico.com.
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