Today, we proudly introduced Muse, our latest AI innovation for drug development—a tool designed to optimize patient recruitment built in collaboration with Sanofi and OpenAI. While many in the industry focus on AI-driven drug discovery, we at Formation Bio are building AI applications and systems to transform the drug development and clinical trials - the most consequential cost and time bottleneck in bringing new medicines to patients
Muse is an example of how AI systems are beginning to become capable of performing tasks that once required entire teams or organizations. Typically, devising and executing on a patient recruitment strategy requires months of research and implementation that involves teams across patient recruitment, marketing, clinical operations, R&D, legal, and compliance. Muse can perform many of these same tasks in minutes rather than months. We believe AI systems like Muse, applied across all drug development processes, will enable us to drastically reduce the cost and time of bringing new medicines to patients.
Just last week, I shared a Q4 reflection note with the Formation Bio team, reaffirming my belief in AI's transformative potential to reshape drug development. AI is integral to our mission of accelerating drug development, with the ultimate goal of delivering life-changing treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.
I want to share this reflection with my broader community, offering insight into how we think about AI at Formation Bio. This context helps set the stage for our Muse product—another step forward in our mission to set new standards in AI-driven pharma.
Dear Team,
I believe we are living in one of the most consequential and exciting times in the history of humanity. I recognize this statement can sound hyperbolic, but there is good reason to believe this. AI is pulling the future forward in so many different ways, and we are not too far away from a world where humans may no longer be the sole source of intelligence capable of shaping our destiny.
Increasingly, AI is enabling a level of productivity and insight previously beyond our reach, transforming industries and redefining what is possible. Many of the fields in which humans pride themselves as uniquely capable—like creative problem-solving, scientific discovery, and complex reasoning — AI is beginning to rival and, in some cases, surpass. In biotech, AI, paired with the right experts, is enabling us to conduct orders of magnitude more experiments in parallel, integrate and make sense of massive, multimodal data sets, rapidly synthesize scientific literature, and uncover patterns and associations between genes, proteins, diseases, and treatments that are too complex for the human mind alone to deconvolute.
For Linhao and me, as co-founders, our mission has never been clearer or felt more critical. At Formation Bio, we see AI as a transformative tool to address one of the world’s most urgent challenges—helping humans live longer and healthier lives by bringing new medicines to patients faster and more efficiently. As AI revolutionizes drug discovery and biopharma, creating a wealth of drug candidates at the top of the development pipeline, the bottleneck of drug development will become the most consequential barrier to bringing new medicines to patients.
We’ve made significant strides integrating AI into every facet of our operations. We’ve mapped out our vision for building an AI-powered R&D scientist that can one day help guide what drugs we license and how best to strategically develop them to make the most impact for patients. We will also have begun to build a number of modules and applications that constitute stepping stones to this vision. One example is Muse, a patient recruitment platform designed to conduct patient research, develop patient recruitment strategy, and generate content that have historically required cross-functional teams months to complete. With Muse, many of these tasks can now be accomplished in days, if not minutes.
We’re making game-changing steps toward enhancing our speed, flexibility, and ability to address the needs of patients worldwide, and demonstrating the types of AI systems that are capable of performing tasks that once required entire teams or organizations. By harnessing systems like this across our company, we are poised to create a company that delivers the impact of a large pharmaceutical organization—without the prohibitive costs, organizational silos, and complexity. These tools have the potential to reshape our industry, making it more efficient, accessible, and ultimately better for patients everywhere.
But I also recognize that such advancements can also create unease. Understandably, many wonder what this shift means for us, our roles, and our place in the world. However, I am genuinely optimistic that AI will empower humans to reclaim time for more meaningful pursuits: spending quality time with loved ones, focusing on personal growth, and engaging in creative and compassionate endeavors that define what it means to be human.
At Formation Bio, we believe that AI will be a powerful ally, enhancing—but never fully replacing—the deep expertise and creativity of our team. Our people, talent, and culture are our greatest long-term advantage, and we’re proud to be building a place where AI serves as a tool to amplify each individual’s insights and ingenuity, allowing us to scale our impact in ways we once only imagined. We are committed to fostering a culture where AI and human innovation work hand-in-hand, creating a future where science, compassion, and technology come together to serve human health in transformative ways.
I am deeply grateful for each of you and excited to share this journey toward making an indelible impact on the world. Thank you for your unwavering dedication, hard work, and partnership. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible, delivering new treatments and hope to patients worldwide. The future of healthcare is bright, and I am inspired to have you with us as we build a healthier, more resilient world.
Best,
Benjamine Liu