Anthropic has set up a biological laboratory, which is not specifically dedicated to drug discovery.

Just now, according to Reuters, Anthropic has quietly set up a wet lab in the San Francisco Bay Area to carry out physical biology work beyond the scope of computer simulation.

Two people familiar with the matter said that the company is trying to involve AI systems such as Claude in experiment execution, and lists life sciences as a key investment direction. Anthropic has not yet disclosed specific research projects and phased achievements.

The existing laboratory is not specifically used for drug discovery

Eric Kauderer-Abrams, head of Life Sciences at Anthropic, confirmed in an interview with Reuters that the company already has a wet laboratory.

He said that the final test of biological research is still in real laboratories, and this will remain the case for some time in the future. Anthropic currently adopts an approach similar to most biotech companies: part of the work is completed in its own facilities, and the rest is handed over to external partners.

An Anthropic spokesperson later clarified that the existing laboratory is not specifically used for drug discovery, and its specific purpose has not been disclosed. The company previously said in June that it plans to carry out preclinical research in areas where traditional enterprises lack economic incentives, and explore treatment options for rare diseases.

This path is still in its early stages. It usually takes years for candidate molecules to go from the laboratory to the market, and they must pass clinical safety and efficacy tests. Most drug projects cannot succeed in the end, and Anthropic is not currently conducting clinical trials.

For CEO Dario Amodei, there is a personal reason for this work. He once wrote that his father died a few years before a treatment for the disease became available. Kauderer-Abrams said that using powerful AI to advance life sciences is one of the greatest opportunities in the company's mission of "making technology benefit the world".

Safety Controversies and Life Sciences Ambitions

Like other biotech companies, Anthropic is exploring physical automation. People familiar with the matter said that the company hopes to let Claude guide robots to complete experiments and reduce human intervention. An Anthropic spokesperson said that human supervision and participation are still the premise of safety.

Kauderer-Abrams described that this field is still "very early", but it is expected to accelerate a variety of scientific processes.

Anthropic released the Model Hardware Standard in August to help AI systems connect and operate experimental equipment. PyLabRobot, previously released by academia, is also oriented to laboratory automation.

While automation is advancing, Anthropic is also responding to the growing controversy over AI safety. Over the past two weeks, some researchers have warned that AI could lead to human extinction. Anthropic also said it had found that its systems could be used in ways that could facilitate the development of biological weapons, a claim that has raised questions.

Amodei has called for a slowdown in development and warned that more capable AI could have catastrophic consequences. At the same time, Anthropic is reportedly preparing for an IPO that could be valued at $2 trillion to raise more funds for AI R&D.

Kauderer-Abrams said that the company's life sciences work always needs to strike a balance between accelerating R&D and controlling risks. Anthropic hopes to improve the model's ability to support drug development, and will also carefully set deployment boundaries.

Life Sciences Is Already One of the Areas Where Anthropic Invests the Most

Anthropic announced its life sciences layout at an event in June, and then launched Claude Science, and added Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan to its board of directors.

The company also confirmed the acquisition of startup Coefficient Bio. Media reports said the transaction consideration is about 400 million US dollars, paid in stock. Anthropic did not comment on the specific amount.

At present, the company is expanding investment in internal laboratories. Kauderer-Abrams said that its own facilities can make part of the work completed faster, and also help the company accumulate first-hand biological experience. Links suitable for outsourcing will still be handed over to external partners.

Recruitment information shows that Anthropic is looking for a person in charge of procurement and related operations, and is also recruiting talents in directions such as protein and nucleic acid characterization. A job description says the company's goal is to speed up life science progress by an order of magnitude.

Kauderer-Abrams said that life sciences has already been one of the areas where Anthropic has invested the most in personnel and resources.

Aiming for "Undruggable" Diseases, First Pass the Trust and Clinical Barriers

Kauderer-Abrams believes that AI has the opportunity to promote the R&D of "undruggable" diseases, and the technical directions the company focuses on include bispecific and trispecific antibodies. Such molecules can act on multiple targets at the same time, and are highly difficult to design and verify.

Anthropic has not yet announced a specific list of diseases, nor has it stated the progress of the project. Finding a candidate molecule is only the starting point, and it will subsequently go through animal studies, clinical trials and regulatory reviews.

Isomorphic Labs, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has been investing in the field of drug discovery for many years, and the time to enter the clinic was once postponed to the end of 2026.

Anthropic currently provides model standards, AI services and tools to pharmaceutical companies including Genentech (a subsidiary of Roche), Bristol-Myers Squibb and Novo Nordisk. This kind of cooperation also brings concerns about data and competition: customers may worry that Anthropic can obtain information that can be used for competition from drug projects of different companies, although the company has isolated customer data.

Kauderer-Abrams said that Anthropic will not carry out clinical trials for the time being, focusing on the long-neglected needs of the industry, and will not compete head-on with pharmaceutical companies and biotech companies whose core business is to bring drugs to market.

For Anthropic, the wet lab is a new fulcrum for AI to enter life sciences. Whether it can translate the advantages of experimental automation into verifiable and marketable treatment solutions still needs to be answered by subsequent data and clinical results.

Reference Link:

https://www.reuters.com/world/anthropic-quietly-sets-up-biology-lab-it-ramps-ai-drug-program-2026-09-18/

This article is from the WeChat official account "Machine Heart", edited by the editorial department of Machine Heart, and published with authorization from 36Kr.