Media Release: API and Amii team up as a world leader in drug development and AI

EDMONTON, AB (October 17, 2019) – Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API) and Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) have announced a collaboration via Memorandum of Understanding to leverage each other’s combined expertise to promote a singular service offering at the intersection of drug development and machine learning/artificial intelligence. Together, API and Amii will explore opportunities to collaborate on an ongoing basis and support each other’s efforts in the development of a broader innovation ecosystem.

“We’re really excited about the collaboration with API," says John Shillington, President and CEO of Amii. “Drug development is an enormously complex industry, and many of its challenges can now be tackled using machine intelligence. By working with API we’re thrilled to explore ways of collaborating that leverage our combined expertise in a way that is second to none.”

API builds translational teams in pharmaceutical sciences and drug development to support industry and innovators, training students on industry projects at the pace of industry while pulling together the expertise of Canadian research-intensive institutions. Together with the help of Amii, API will be able to explore applications of AI with API’s industry partners in a wide range of areas from early-stage drug design, to clinical trials and beyond.

The memorandum is one that recognizes Amii and API as global leaders in the space. API’s network of members includes global top fifteen expertise in applied pharmaceutical sciences and drug development. When combined with Amii’s position, helping to make the University of Alberta one of the global top five AI and ML institutes, the two organizations are arguably making Alberta the number one place in the world for the application of AI in drug development.

“The combination of machine intelligence with the drug development process has endless possibilities,” says API CEO Andrew MacIsaac. “Through our agreement with Amii, we want our teams to create and find solutions that will get life-saving drugs to the people that need it faster and more efficiently than ever before.”

About Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation

API is a not-for-profit that works in collaboration with the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as well as research and post-secondary institutions across Alberta and beyond, with the goal of building a sustainable and vibrant pharmaceutical sector in Canada and establishing Alberta as a world-leading hub for pharmaceutical innovation and commercialization. API draws on an interdisciplinary network of over 30 pharmaceutical scientists, clinicians, regulatory, patent, and market experts in a variety of fields and disease areas to bring life-saving research to the real world. www.appliedpharma.ca.

About Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute

One of Canada’s leading AI institutes, Amii drives advanced research in machine intelligence at the University of Alberta and other academic institutions and leverages scientific expertise to advance state-of-the-art industry research, enable businesses to build their internal machine learning capabilities and grow Alberta’s AI workforce. Visit amii.ca for more information, or view our Fact Sheet.

See the original media release on the API website.