Q&A with Chris Gibson, PhD, Co-founder and CEO of Recursion Pharmaceuticals.

The conventional path to drug discovery can take 10 to 15 years, costing more than $1 billion. This is too slow and costly for the 7,000+ rare diseases that affect an estimated 30 million Americans. To efficiently discover therapies for these rare diseases, as well as inflammation and diseases of aging, Recursion Pharmaceuticals is disrupting drug discovery with advanced experimental biology, automation, and artificial intelligence. Recursion's goal is 100 drugs by 2025.

WHAT IS THE INNOVATION BEHIND RECURSION?

For 60 years, the drug discovery industry has seen a decline in R&D efficiency and an increase in costs. We want to treat more patients faster--by dramatically decreasing the time and costs traditionally associated with drug discovery. To do this, we leverage artificial intelligence that is better at analyzing and tracking cellular changes. For example, diseased cells are often abnormal in appearance and function. Looking at hundreds of parameters and tens of thousands of human cells, we test the ability of drugs to restore diseased cells to a normal appearance, which is often a good predictor of a drug's success or failure.

WHY IS THE LIFE SCIENCES INDUSTRY IMPORTANT TO UTAH?

The life sciences industry brings high-paying jobs and highly educated people to Utah, helping to build a prosperous state economy. We want to help build Utah's reputation for its significant contributions to society, including many life-saving...