Anthropic tests Claude across drug development projects

Anthropic is working with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to explore how Claude could support drug development, from designing molecules to preparing clinical studies. The projects include potential treatments for cancer, food allergies and rare muscular disorders; most remain experimental.

At Generate Biomedicines, six scientists used Claude Code to redesign a component of CAR T-cell therapy. The component was about 70% shorter, and laboratory tests found that immune cells produced roughly 10 times more receptors. The modified cells also killed cancer cells more effectively and stayed active longer, according to the reported findings.

Divergence Labs used Claude to create about 35,000 antibody designs in one month for a potential food-allergy treatment targeting IgE. Initial experiments found three designs that bound to IgE and 20 that detached it from immune cells. Three of the latter appeared more effective than the standard medication at removing IgE.

BigHat Biosciences tested about 1,010 antibody-fragment variations over 10 weeks. Its strongest cancer-targeting version bound its target more than 10 times as tightly and remained stable at temperatures 18°C higher than the original. Another fragment aggregated more than 100 times more slowly.

Anthropic says Claude also identified 18 issues in a 1,061-page manufacturing review, including all 11 previously found by human reviewers. Enveda reported an 89% reduction in manual checking time, from more than 25 hours to under three. Bristol Myers Squibb is assessing Claude for clinical-study planning. Its senior vice president Michael Pourdehnad said a single prompt produced a robust initial analysis. Anthropic says it plans to expand its life-sciences partnerships.