| AI large language models that can mimic human prose are generating lots of excitement but the most significant long-term opportunity may be unlocking the language of life. That’s the premise behind Bioptimus, a newly launched French company that aims to build the first universal AI large language model (LLM) in biology. While a few startups are leveraging LLMs for specific areas of biology, such as the design of novel protein therapeutics, Bioptimus believe it is the first to try and build a model that will be trained on data that’s necessary to understand multiple biological processes and how they connect with each other. The hope is to address many different scales of biology, including organs, tissues, cells, molecules, and atoms, to gain a holistic view of how the human body functions and advance the treatment of disease. Improvements in AI over the past two years are a step-change in the field, Professor Jean-Philippe Vert, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Bioptimus, chief research and development officer at Owkin and a former Research Lead at Google Brain, said in an interview with The Innovator. “We have reached a point where we have the recipes and the know-how to train AI systems,” he says. “Just as large language models are being trained using text written in human language, we can show it data written in other languages – like the language of nature – and capture the laws of biology.” In the short-term applying LLMs to patient data could help accelerate the development of new drugs and precision medicine, says Vert. Longer term it has the potential to help create digital twins of individuals to capture and monitor the state of the body, making disease prevention easier, he says. To achieve those goals Bioptimus is assembling a team of scientists that includes Google DeepMind alumni as well as scientists from Owkin, a French unicorn and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Innovators Community. | 
