Anthropic has just shown that Claude can directly contribute to designing proteins that can bind to biological targets, a key step in the development of many drugs.
The technology group asked Claude Opus 4.8 and its experimental Mythos Preview model to design “minibinders”, small proteins intended to attach precisely to a target protein in order, for example, to block or alter its function. Out of 15 targets tested, functional proteins were obtained for 14, with a success rate of 22% to 35% depending on the methods used, versus roughly 10% to 15% typically seen in this type of campaign. For four targets, the best designed proteins matched or exceeded previously published affinity levels.
The experiment above all highlights the complementarity between AI models and synthetic biology. Claude can quickly generate, compare, and select a large number of sequences, but those sequences must then be physically produced and tested in the lab. Twist Bioscience and Adaptyv Bio handled that independent validation step.
Listed on the Nasdaq, Twist Bioscience specializes in manufacturing synthetic DNA used notably for sequencing and drug discovery. Adaptyv Bio, for its part, runs an automated platform that can rapidly produce and test digitally designed proteins. In Anthropic’s experiment, the two companies provided the laboratory validation of the proteins generated by Claude.
This development could gradually strengthen demand for this kind of synthetic biology infrastructure if pharmaceutical labs increase their use of AI to generate new candidates. The market reacted quickly to that prospect, with Twist Bioscience shares jumping about 17% on Wednesday, near their highest level since 2021. The stock has now more than quadrupled since the start of the year.
Anthropic is also preparing for a debut in the public markets. The group confidentially filed in June for an initial public offering and is now working on its future governance structure, notably on retaining enhanced voting power for its founders. The transaction could become one of the largest technology IPOs ever, with Anthropic already valued at $965bn in its most recent funding round in May.