C-BRAIN launches open-source AI tools

The Consortium for Biomedical Research and Artificial Intelligence in Neurodegeneration (C-BRAIN), a global collaboration of academic researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and philanthropic organizations led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, launched three open-source AI tools at the Alzheimer s Association International Conference in London. The tools are designed to accelerate research into Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases by synthesizing literature, surfacing insights from unpublished 'dark' data, and providing peer review-style feedback. C-BRAIN's mission is to build an 'AI Biomedical Research Scientist' to address the high failure rate of Alzheimer's drug candidates, with over 99% failing in clinical trials. The consortium includes 17 members such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, Eisai, the Alzheimer s Drug Discovery Foundation, and others. The tools were developed using resources from the United States — National Science Foundation and Microsoft. The open-source nature allows global scientists to inspect and improve the code, and a federated data architecture protects proprietary data while enabling collaboration.