ANTARES project launch: Artificial Intelligence aims to speed up the search for new antibacterials

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, GERMANY, July 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ANTARES is a new public-private partnership funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) that brings together the Fraunhofer ITMP in Hamburg, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Enamine Deutschland GmbH from Frankfurt am Main (Enamine). The partners will use AI models to rapidly identify novel antibiotics towards safer, more affordable cures for patients battling life-threatening and often drug-resistant infections.

The AI models will be trained and tested using publicly available datasets, providing a low-risk approach to optimize the most suitable model. After the initial adjustment, the model is improved iteratively using high throughput testing of substances predicted to be antibiotically active to achieve the best possible prediction accuracy. In order to enhance the discrimination power of the model, structurally similar compounds that were predicted to be inactive will also be confirmed experimentally in addition to the hits. “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭, 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘚 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦” explains Dr. Bernhard Ellinger from Fraunhofer ITMP. Importantly, while starting with known datasets the consortium has the ability to make and test newly synthesized libraries.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭-𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬

The three partners of ANTARES, Fraunhofer ITMP, HZI and Enamine, are all experts in translating their respective scientific expertise into inventions and products.

Dr. Sven Wagner, Vice President of Partnerships at Enamine, adds: “𝘞𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰-𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 "𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵”. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 (𝘈𝘔𝘙) 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 (𝘙𝘖𝘐) 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭. 𝘌𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 "𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩" 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤-𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘚 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘛𝘔𝘗 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘡𝘐. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘈𝘕𝘛𝘈𝘙𝘌𝘚 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘌𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘦."

To enable this vision, structure-activity relationships learned from the models will be extracted using ExplainableAI (XAI) approaches. In addition, a generative model will propose new structures with antibiotic activity. The models and the developed standardized data sets will be published FAIR to support further antibiotic drug discovery. “𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴,” explains Prof. Mark Brönstrup from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.

𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 (𝘉𝘔𝘍𝘛𝘙) 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘑ü𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘩 (𝘗𝘵𝘑), 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 03𝘓𝘞𝘏0186𝘈.

Fact box
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Projekttitel: Antibiotic Network for Targeted AI-driven Research and Explainable Screening

Acronym: ANTARES

Projektbeginn: 01.07.2026

Projektlaufzeit: 3 Jahre

Fördersumme: 1,18 Milionen €

Zuwendungsgeber: Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt

Projektträger: PtJ Projektträger Jülich

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Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and its other sites in Germany are engaged in the study of bacterial and viral infections and the body’s defense mechanisms. They have a profound expertise in natural compound research and its exploitation as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) the HZI performs translational research laying the ground for the development of new treatments and vaccines against infectious diseases.
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