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What does it take to improve a drug discovery success rate of less than 1%? In this episode, Yann Gaston-Mathé explains how AI, robotics, and laboratory automation are being combined to accelerate the development of new medicines and tackle some of the industry's most challenging drug targets.
This week on Leading Beyond The Lab, Lawrence Rose sat down with Yann Gaston-Mathé, CEO and Co-Founder of Iktos, with more than 20 years of experience spanning pharmaceutical R&D, data science, IT, strategic consulting, entrepreneurship, and AI-driven drug discovery.
In this episode, Yann Gaston-Mathé covers:
• How Iktos is tackling the inefficiency of small molecule drug discovery and why overall success rates remain below 1%
• What differentiates Iktos from other AI drug discovery companies by combining generative AI with laboratory automation and robotic synthesis
• The journey from large pharmaceutical organisations into entrepreneurship and the founding story behind Iktos in 2016
• How AI, predictive modelling, robotics and iterative design-make-test cycles are transforming drug discovery workflows
• Why the next frontier for AI in healthcare is improving clinical success rates and reducing development timelines that currently take 8 to 10 years
Yann provides a practical perspective on where AI is creating real value in drug discovery, the importance of combining software with experimental science, and why human expertise remains central to the future of pharmaceutical innovation.
If you're interested in AI, biotechnology, drug discovery, pharmaceutical R&D, laboratory automation, or the future of healthcare innovation, this episode offers valuable insight from someone building and deploying these technologies today.
Throughout the conversation, Lawrence and Yann discuss the evolution of @Iktos, collaborations across the pharmaceutical industry, and lessons learned from working with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners.
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Yann Gaston-Mathé
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yann-gaston-mathe-9850a21/
Lawrence Rose
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawrencerose/
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and episode highlights
01:37 Welcome to Leading Beyond The Lab
07:19 The founding story behind Iktos
08:05 Career journey through pharma, consulting, IT and data science
10:09 Leaving large pharmaceutical companies for entrepreneurship
11:10 How the Iktos platform works
16:41 Automation and scaling medicinal chemistry workflows
22:03 Measuring impact, speed and efficiency in drug discovery
26:19 Competition within AI drug discovery
27:30 The future of AI in pharmaceutical R&D
29:35 Building strategic pharmaceutical partnerships
30:52 Evaluating new collaboration opportunities
32:18 Working across global cultures and organisations
33:35 Creating value through partnerships
35:45 Scaling resources and managing growth
41:09 Challenges in building automated laboratory infrastructure
42:12 Will AI replace chemists?
45:29 Will AI ever fully replace human scientists?
47:59 What continues to motivate Yann Gaston-Mathé
49:24 Advice for the next generation of scientists
50:38 Science, technology and the future workforce
51:06 Closing remarks
#LeadingBeyondTheLab #ARTOTalent #DrugDiscovery #ArtificialIntelligence #Biotech #Pharmaceuticals #LifeSciences #LaboratoryAutomation #MachineLearning #HealthcareInnovation #DrugDevelopment #GenerativeAI
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