ByteDance is spinning off its AI drug discovery business line into a separate company that will seek independent funding. The new entity will remain under ByteDance's control, with the core AI drug discovery team, algorithms, technology platform, and early drug pipeline assets folded into the new structure. The spin-off is built on the team ByteDance assembled back in 2021 and will continue to get compute support from Volcano Engine, ByteDance's cloud platform.
The 50-person team, led by Liu Kai, combines AI4S (AI for Science) algorithm talent with veteran pharmaceutical experts. It has already absorbed an internal protein structure prediction team that released models like Protenix and Seedfold, as well as a binder design tool called PXDesign. For real-world drug development, the team also built the Anew Labs platform and, at the April 2026 American Association of Immunologists annual meeting, disclosed an IL-17 small molecule project. It claimed the first-ever use of a small molecule to block three dimers (AA, AF, FF) of the IL-17 family, marking a shift from algorithm models to target and pipeline validation.
ByteDance chose to carve out the unit to better attract top talent and adapt to the unique R&D rhythms of biotech. Unlike traditional internet businesses, AI4S research involves long-cycle, high-difficulty stages like model development, wet-lab experiments, and clinical validation. As an independent company, the new entity will have more flexible decision-making.