The Information Machine
ConcludedRan 1 dayin the edition since 23 Sep 20262 sourcesupdated 23 Sep 2026

RetroChimera retrosynthesis AI

The gist

Latest: Microsoft Research, GSK, Novartis publish RetroChimera retrosynthesis AI

Training on proprietary pharmaceutical data alongside public datasets is an unusual collaboration between a technology company and major drug manufacturers. The model is aimed at accelerating chemical synthesis planning, which is described as slow and expensive.

When stories like this move, I write about them in an email each morning.

One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.

The full picture

A joint team from Microsoft Research, GSK, and Novartis published RetroChimera, an AI model for retrosynthesis planning, in a Nature paper. The model was trained on a combination of public and proprietary pharmaceutical reaction datasets and improved retrosynthesis predictions used in drug synthesis planning. Retrosynthesis, the process of working backward from a target molecule to find viable synthetic routes, is a key bottleneck in producing custom molecules for medicine, materials science, and agriculture.

How it developed
First in the edition · 23 September 2026
22 September 2026in the 23 Sep edition

Microsoft Research, GSK, and Novartis published RetroChimera in Nature on September 22, targeting the retrosynthesis planning step that determines how to synthesize a target molecule from existing reactions.

A distinctive feature is that the model was trained on both public and proprietary pharmaceutical reaction data, reflecting the collaboration between a technology research lab and two major pharmaceutical companies. RetroChimera improved retrosynthesis predictions and is designed to help researchers explore a wider range of molecules.

First citedMicrosoft Research on XThe Neuron
Sources
Microsoft Research on X
The Neuron

More on this

Get the daily email

When stories like this move, I write about them in an email each morning.

One free email each morning, around 8 AM US Eastern.

See the latest edition · Privacy