Natural products (NPs) are primarily recognized as privileged structures to interact with protein drug targets. Their unique characteristics and structural diversity continue to marvel scientists for developing NP-inspired medicines, even though the pharmaceutical industry has largely given up. High-performance computer hardware, extensive storage, accessible software and affordable online education have democratized the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in many sectors and research areas. The last decades have introduced natural language processing and machine learning algorithms, two subfields of AI, to tackle NP drug discovery challenges and open up opportunities. In this article, we review and discuss the rational applications of AI approaches developed to assist in discovering bioactive NPs and capturing the molecular "patterns" of these privileged structures for combinatorial design or target selectivity.

Lodo Therapeutics Corp., a biotechnology company applying its proprietary platform to reinvent environmentally-sourced, natural product drug discovery, today announced the appointment of Dale Pfost, PhD, as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. Pfost has more than 25 years of experience as a life science entrepreneur, senior executive and venture investor. He has served as CEO of five biotechnology companies, three of which became publicly traded with valuations exceeding two billion dollars. Dr. Pfost has successfully completed dozens of financings, overseen numerous M&A transactions and served as a director at multiple public and private life science firms. The company also announced the addition of four members to the senior leadership team: Steve Colletti, PhD, Senior Vice President of R&D; Anthony Colasin, Senior Vice President of Business Development; Barbara Lindheim, Consulting Vice President of Strategic Communications and Investor Relations; and Sarajane Mackenzie, Consulting Vice President of Human Resources and Organization Development.