China's GalaxyVS platform screens billions of molecules in seconds

A team from China's National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin and Tsinghua University has launched GalaxyVS, an AI platform for virtual drug screening. Using the new Tianhe supercomputer, it can screen nearly 100 billion chemical compounds in seconds, a world first. This cuts early drug discovery from months or years to just tens of seconds.

Tests show the system encodes about 4 million target pockets with thousands of DSP nodes. It searches a 100-billion-molecule library in under a minute, processing 16 trillion molecular interactions daily. That's 1 million times faster than the current global record.

The team says GalaxyVS solves key drug development problems like scarce active molecules and limited screening options. It offers new ways to find lead compounds for diseases like cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, and can speed up responses to public health emergencies.