DeepMind hopes its unrivaled collection of data, enabled by artificial intelligence, may advance development of precision medicines, new medical laboratory tests, and therapeutic treatments
‘Tis the season for giving, and one United Kingdom-based artificial intelligence (AI) research laboratory is making a sizeable gift. After using AI and machine learning to create “the most comprehensive map of human proteins,” in existence, DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL), parent company of Google, plans to give away for free its database of millions of protein structure predictions to the global scientific community and to all of humanity, The Verge reported.
Pathologists and clinical laboratory scientists developing proteomic assays understand the significance of this gesture. They know how difficult and expensive it is to determine protein structures using sequencing of amino acids. That’s because the various types of amino acids in use cause the [DNA] string to “fold.” Thus, the availability of this data may accelerate the development of more diagnostic tests based on proteomics.
“For decades, scientists have been trying to find a method to reliably determine a protein’s structure just from its sequence of amino acids. Attraction and repulsion between the 20 different types of amino acids cause the string to fold in a feat of ‘spontaneous origami,’ forming the intricate curls, loops, and pleats of a protein’s 3D structure. This grand scientific challenge is known as the protein-folding problem,” a DeepMind statement noted.
Enter DeepMind’s AlphaFold AI platform to help iron things out. “Experimental techniques for determining structures are painstakingly laborious and time consuming (sometimes taking years and millions of dollars). Our latest version [of AlphaFold] can now predict the shape of a protein, at scale and in minutes, down to atomic accuracy. This is a significant breakthrough and highlights the impact AI can have on science,” DeepMind stated.
Release of Data Will Be ‘Transformative’
In July, DeepMind announced it would begin releasing data from its AlphaFold Protein Structure Database which contains “predictions for the structure of some 350,000 proteins across 20 different organisms,” The Verge reported, adding, “Most significantly, the release includes predictions for 98% of all human proteins, around 20,000 different structures, which are collectively known as the human proteome. By the end of the year, DeepMind hopes to release predictions for 100 million protein structures.”
According to Edith Heard, PhD, Director General of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the open release of such a dataset will be “transformative for our understanding of how life works,” The Verge reported.
“I see this as the culmination of the entire 10-year-plus lifetime of DeepMind,” company CEO and co-founder Demis Hassabis (above), told The Verge. “From the beginning, this is what we set out to do: to make breakthroughs in AI, test that on games like Go and Atari, [and] apply that to real-world problems, to see if we can accelerate scientific breakthroughs and use those to benefit humanity.” The release of DeepMind’s entire protein prediction database will certainly do that. Clinical laboratory scientists worldwide will have free access to use it in developing new precision medicine treatments based on proteomics. (Photo copyright: BBC.)
Free Data about Proteins Will Accelerate Research on Diseases, Treatments
Research into how protein folds and, thereby, functions could have implications to fighting diseases and developing new medicines, according to DeepMind.
“This will be one of the most important datasets since the mapping of the human genome,” said Ewan Birney, PhD, Deputy Director General of the EMBL, in the DeepMind statement. EMBL worked with DeepMind on the dataset.
DeepMind protein prediction data are already being used by scientists in medical research. “Anyone can use it for anything. They just need to credit the people involved in the citation,” said Demis Hassabis, DeepMind CEO and Co-founder, in The Verge.
In a blog article, Hassabis listed several projects and organizations already using AlphaFold. They include:
“As researchers seek cures for diseases and pursue solutions to other big problems facing humankind—including antibiotic resistance, microplastic pollution, and climate change—they will benefit from fresh insights in the structure of proteins,” Hassabis wrote.
Because of the deep financial backing that Alphabet/Google can offer, it is reasonable to predict that DeepMind will make progress with its AI technology that regularly adds capabilities and accuracy, allowing AlphaFold to be effective for many uses.
This will be particularly true for the development of new diagnostic assays that will give clinical laboratories better tools for diagnosing disease earlier and more accurately.
Delivery of clinical laboratory specimens and medical supplies by drone is beginning to happen in different parts of the world
The idea that fleets of flying drones may someday legally transport clinical laboratory specimens may sound good—it may even be beneficial from a healthcare perspective—but it also could be hugely disruptive to medical labs that maintain large and expensive courier/logistics capabilities.
So, the announcement that the FAA had granted approval to Amazon’s new drone delivery fleet—Amazon Prime Air—may come as something of a mixed blessing to clinical laboratory managers and large healthcare networks.
Nevertheless, it’s done. Amazon Prime Air has joined Alphabet Inc’s Wing and the United Parcel Services’ Flight Forward as “the only companies that have gotten FAA approval to operate under the federal regulations governing charter operators and small airlines,” Bloomberg reported.
But will this trend bode well for clinical laboratories?
Does Amazon Plan to Deliver Clinical Laboratory Specimens?
As yet, Amazon has not announced its intention to deliver clinical laboratory specimens. But given the company’s trajectory as a disrupter of traditional retail and shipping industries, it seems reasonable that competing with Wing and Flight Forward might be part of Amazon’s plan.
Wing and UPS are already operating fledgling clinical laboratory delivery networks in the US and other nations, such as Australia and Switzerland. Wing has been testing limited drone deliveries in Christiansburg, VA, since it received FAA approval to operate drone deliveries last year. UPS received similar approval last year to operate drones to deliver biological specimens and clinical laboratory supplies between physicians’ offices and the central clinical laboratory on WakeMed’s medical campus in Raleigh, NC.
Amazon’s MK27 drone (above) is a hybrid aircraft that can take off and land vertically like a helicopter and sustain forward flight. The drone has several built-in safety features, including thermal cameras, depth cameras, onboard computers and sonar to detect hazards in its path and navigate around them. Click here to watch a video of the drone in flight. (Video copyright: Amazon.)
Amazon’s drones can fly up to 7.5 miles from a distribution site (a 15-mile round trip) and can deliver packages that weigh less than five pounds to customers. The goal is to deliver small items that can fit in the drone’s cargo box to consumers in under 30 minutes.
Are Drones the Future of Medical Laboratory Specimen Delivery?
Routine deliveries via drones are still a long way off as more trial runs are needed and the FAA has to develop standards and regulations for drone delivery operations to maintain order in the skies. However, in a statement, the FAA said it is trying to support innovation in the expanding drone arena while ensuring that the devices operate safely. The FAA plans to finalize a set of regulations for drones by the end of this year, Bloomberg reported.
“This certification is an important step forward for Prime Air and indicates the FAA’s confidence in Amazon’s operating and safety procedures for an autonomous drone delivery service that will one day deliver packages to our customers around the world,” David Carbon, Vice President Prime Air at Amazon, said in a statement to Business Insider. “We will continue to develop and refine our technology to fully integrate delivery drones into the airspace and work closely with the FAA and other regulators around the world to realize our vision of 30-minute delivery.”
So, will Amazon one day announce plans to deliver medical supplies and clinical laboratory specimens in under 30 minutes too? It wouldn’t be unreasonable to believe in the possibility.
Dark Daily previously covered similar drone delivery services under development for healthcare situations around the world. In “Drones Used to Deliver Clinical Laboratory Specimens in Switzerland,” we reported how a multiple-facility hospital group in Switzerland was using drones to deliver lab samples between two of their locations.
In “WakeMed Uses Drone to Deliver Patient Specimens,” our sister publication, The Dark Report, covered how in April, 2019, clinical lab professionals at WakeMed Health and Hospitals completed the first successful revenue-generating commercial transport of lab supplies by drone in the United States. The satellite lab now sends urine, blood, and other patient specimens for routine testing to the main lab.
Dark Daily also reported in 2017 that researchers from Johns Hopkins University had successfully flown a drone carrying lab specimens more than 161 miles across the Arizona desert, setting a US record for the longest distance drone delivery of viable medical specimens.
Amazon would fit right in.
Though regular drone delivery of medical supplies and clinical laboratory specimens may take some time to develop, it is a trend that laboratory managers should watch closely. The potential for drones to safely and inexpensively transport clinical laboratory specimens could become a reality sooner than expected.
Expanding healthcare services into communities is expected to increase orders for clinical laboratory tests, promote precision medicine, and lower overall costs
Clinical
laboratories continue to adapt to servicing providers in non-traditional
healthcare settings. These include freestanding urgent care centers as well as
mini-clinics in retail locations. Dark Daily has covered this trend
extensively in previous
e-briefings.
To secure a share of this new market, national retailers,
pharmacy chains, and grocery stores are increasing their health and medical
service offerings and forging partnerships with other organizations, such as
tech developers.
One such recent partnership involves Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
(NYSE:WBA) and the Microsoft
Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). In January, both parties announced a joint
venture to develop new healthcare solutions that will improve patient outcomes while
lowering cost through research and development, funding, and technology.
“Our strategic partnership with Microsoft demonstrates our
strong commitment to creating integrated, next-generation, digitally-enabled
healthcare delivery solutions for our customers, transforming our stores into
modern neighborhood health destinations, and expanding customer offerings,”
said Stefano
Pessina, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Walgreens,
in a Microsoft press
release.
Through this partnership, Walgreens plans to provide personalized healthcare (aka, precision medicine) by connecting its customers to pertinent health information through digital devices and in-store expert advice. The goal is to proactively engage patients in their own care to improve medication adherence, reduce emergency room visits, decrease hospital readmissions, and provide customers with lifestyle management solutions.
In addition, the two companies will share each other’s
market research and work with consumers, payers, providers, and pharmaceutical
manufacturers to devise solutions that improve health outcomes while lowering
costs.
“[Walgreens Boot Alliance] will work with Microsoft to harness the information that exists between payers and healthcare providers to leverage, in the interest of patients and with their consent, our extraordinary network of accessible and convenient locations to deliver new innovations, greater value, and better health outcomes in healthcare systems across the world,” Pessina said in the press release.
As part of this partnership, Walgreens will move the majority of its IT infrastructure onto Microsoft Azure, a cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) platform. Walgreens also will provide Microsoft 365 to more than 380,000 employees and stores located throughout the world. Microsoft 365 is a business solution which bundles Windows 10 and Office 365 with advanced security features.
Other Walgreens Collaborations That Provide Healthcare at
Retail Locations
Walgreens also announced several collaborations with other
companies to become more competitive and secure their share of the healthcare
market.
Through its partnership with Chicago-based VillageMD, a national provider of primary
care clinics, Walgreens will open five primary care clinics next to Walgreens
stores in the Houston area. These clinics, called “Village Medical at Walgreens,”
will offer customers comprehensive primary care services, pharmacists, nurses,
and social workers.
“This collaboration with VillageMD demonstrates our ongoing commitment to create neighborhood health destinations that bring affordable healthcare services to customers and provide a differentiated patient experience to the communities we serve,” stated Patrick Carroll, MD (above), Chief Medical Officer, Clinical Programs and Alliances, Walgreens, in a Walgreens press release. “VillageMD has a strong track record nationally of improving outcomes and reducing the cost of healthcare through their transformative primary care model.” (Photo copyright: Walgreens.)
Another collaboration involves Verily Life
Sciences, a research arm of Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), Google’s parent company. The
agreement is for multiple projects to improve health outcomes for patients with
chronic illnesses. The two companies will be exploring the use of technology, such
as sensors, and software to help prevent, manage, screen, and diagnose disease
with the ultimate goal of deploying those technologies at Walgreens retail
locations.
“The
continued rise in chronic diseases today can be costly to patients as well as
to our healthcare system,” Pessina told Business
Wire. “Working with Verily, we’ll look at how we can best support
integrated and value-based care to meet our patients’ needs, as well as
opportunities to address other chronic conditions over time.”
Service Agreements with LabCorp and Quest
In 2018, Walgreens
announced a significant expansion of their collaboration with LabCorp, to increase the number of patient
service center (PCS) locations within Walgreens stores. The two companies
agreed to open at least 600 additional LabCorp-at-Walgreens facilities across
the US over the next four years. At the time of the announcement, LabCorp operated
17 facilities at Walgreens in Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, and Illinois.
Along the same lines, Quest
Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) also has opened hundreds of patient-serviced centers
within various food and drug retail stores throughout the US, which Dark
Daily reported in 2017.
“Healthcare is too complicated, too big, and if I can say, a
little too messy,” Pessina told Digital
Commerce 360. “We cannot be helpful to our patients if we don’t team up
with many, many different, practically all, the players in this industry.”
CVS HealthHubs Offer Blood Testing, Health Screenings,
and Other Services
To remain competitive, CVS also is trying new ways to
capitalize on the growing healthcare market.
In February, CVS announced
the creation of three newly designed stores in the Houston area as pilot
projects. These stores, called HealthHubs,
will include expanded health clinics with medical laboratories for blood
testing and health screenings. They’ll also feature dieticians, respiratory
specialists, and dedicated space to assist customers with the management of
some chronic health conditions, as well as wellness rooms for yoga classes and
health seminars.
“We’re pleased and surprised pleasantly with the ecosystem
of healthcare that we’ve created here and how approachable it is, how much
people are interested in it, and there are certain things we can take to all
stores,” Kevin
Hourican, Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, CVS Pharmacy,
told Becker’s
Hospital Review.
With more retailers
adding an ever-increasing number of healthcare services to their offerings, the
number of medical laboratory tests available at those locations will likely
also increase. Although this trend may boost competition for clinical
laboratories, it could also benefit them by creating new opportunities to
provide value-added services to their clients.
