Partnership applies deep learning to very big data

GlaxoSmithKline has for several years engaged in a campaign of creative destruction, acting to replace traditional methods of manufacturing and research with more efficient ways of doing things. The implementation of programs such as its Manufacturing Technology Roadmap, a manifesto against the standard pharma method of manufacturing drugs in batches, for example, has helped earn the company the reputation of risk-taker among major drug firms. Now, GSK is turning its attention to drug discovery, where it is hoping that a nascent approach of applying supercomputing to huge data sets will allow it to move from target identification to a molecule ready for the clinic in just one year. John Baldoni, senior vice president of platform technology and science at GSK, refers to the drastic telescoping of a process that has traditionally taken closer to a decade as the company’s “moon shot” project. It will rely heavily, he says, on the