Start-up seeks to improve drug discovery chemistry

A new company has entered the drug discovery space with what it calls a “chemistry-first” platform. Colorado-based Cime Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with $2.1 million in preseed financing to advance its method for efficiently synthesizing and screening molecules that could become oncology drugs. Cime’s platform uses the latest in materials science, laboratory automation, and synthetic organic chemistry and is powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence, says James Brewster, the firm’s founder and CEO. The goal, he says, is to expedite the synthesis of potential small-molecule drug compounds multifold. The typical chemist can synthesize 50–100 drug-like molecules a year, Brewster says. With Cime’s approach, “we’re able to make hundreds of thousands a day.” Although Brewster plans to harness AI, he says he has a bias for synthesis over simulation because it yields molecules that are one step closer to being a drug candidate. Brewster earned a PhD in organic