UK and France ministers back AI drug discovery at Diamond
Jul 18, 2025
The UK’s Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, Feryal Clark, visited Diamond to gain insights into the groundbreaking work planned by the OpenBind consortium. An ambitious initiative that aims to revolutionise drug discovery through artificial intelligence.
Ms Clark, who is the Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government, was accompanied by Clara Chappaz, France’s minister delegate for artificial intelligence and digital affairs.
- Diamond Head of Industrial Liaison Elizabeth Shotton; French Minister Delegate for artificial intelligence and digital affairs Clara Chappaz; Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government Feryal Clark; and Diamond CEO Gianluigi Botton.
OpenBind, which recently secured £8 million in anchor funding from DSIT’s Sovereign AI Unit, will generate the world’s largest dataset on drug-protein interaction - twenty times larger than any previous effort in the field. This data will be used to train next-generation AI models capable of identifying new drugs faster and more affordably, promising to significantly reduce development costs.
Ms Clark and Ms Chappaz toured the facility with Diamond’s CEO Gianluigi Botton to observe key research instruments. The ministers visited the I04-1 beamline, which will be integral to OpenBind’s ambitions.
It was great to visit Diamond Light Source with our French partners, to see some of the work making the UK a global hub for AI-driven drug discovery. The OpenBind consortium is a brilliant example of how world-leading UK capabilities are unlocking new AI models that can identify new treatments, faster.
Backed by our Sovereign AI Unit, this cutting-edge work, applying AI tech to biosciences, has huge potential to unlock new avenues to attract international investment and help rebuild our NHS. This is critical work in support of our Plan for Change.
Feryal Clark, Under-Secretary of State for AI and Digital Government
OpenBind exemplifies Diamond’s integral role in harnessing home-grown AI expertise to drive global innovation and impact. By combining Diamond’s world-class capabilities with advanced AI technologies, we are not only improving drug development but also delivering on the UK’s technological ambitions.
Diamond CEO Gianluigi Botton
The OpenBind consortium represents the ambitions laid out in the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, which calls for investment in AI to drive economic growth, transform public services and position the UK as a global leader in responsible AI innovation. OpenBind’s collaborative approach, bringing together academia and internal expertise, also reflects the importance of EU partnerships, ensuring that scientific breakthroughs are shared across borders to tackle global challenges in health and sustainability.
The visit to Diamond was the culmination of France’s state visit to the UK which saw the announcement of several joint initiatives. These projects reflect a growing UK-France alliance in science and technology, with a focus on high-tech resilience and shared scientific excellence.
Diamond Light Source is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire.
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