Birmingham Business Journal: UA System lands major AI research partnership with California biotech entity

By Harper Harwell – Tech/Startups/Innovation Reporter, Birmingham Business Journal

Oct 19, 2025

The Birmingham Business Journal recently reported that the University of Alabama System has formed a significant partnership with GATC Health, aiming to accelerate the discovery and development of new therapeutics through advanced artificial intelligence technology.

This collaboration unites the research strengths of UA, UAB, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville with GATC Health’s proprietary AI platform, which simulates human biology and scientific compounds to predict drug success for specific conditions with up to 90% accuracy.

The initiative is expected to reduce time, costs, and risks in preclinical phases—making drug development more efficient and increasing the likelihood that academic discoveries become market-ready therapies.

GATC Health’s Platform Benefits

Dr. Rahul Gupta, President of GATC Health, highlighted three main advantages of the platform:

1. Improved compound testing

2. Better identification of promising drug candidates

3. Independent success evaluations to attract investment

Although the FDA approves only 40–50 drugs annually, few target rare diseases due to economic constraints. This partnership aims to change that through predictive modeling and multiomics technology—strengthening Alabama’s growing biotech ecosystem.

“The FDA currently only approves 40–50 drugs a year and almost none of those are treatments for rare and ultra-rare diseases because there’s no money in those areas,” Gupta said.
“I thought there could be no more important area or impact on humanity than through the discovery of new treatments and drugs.”

Dr. Gupta, an alumnus of UAB’s Master of Public Health program and former Director of National Drug Control Policy, said his personal ties to the state and its biotech momentum inspired this partnership.

“Alabama’s advance in cutting-edge science really underscores the human side of the state’s bold push into biotech,” Gupta said.
“I felt like this was really important—to make this the place where you can simulate human biology and predict drug outcomes with unprecedented accuracy.”

About GATC Health

GATC Health is a tech-bio company revolutionizing drug discovery and development by simulating complex human biology to predict how drugs will perform in the body—with 91% specificity and 86% sensitivity.

Trusted by global insurance marketplaces, biopharma firms, researchers, and investment partners, GATC Health’s flagship product, the Derisq™ AI Report, predicts drug safety, efficacy, and potential side effects before development capital is committed.

By combining AI, multiomics, and predictive modeling, GATC Health helps reduce late-stage failures and accelerate breakthroughs—bringing safer, more effective therapies to patients worldwide.

🌐 Learn more at www.gatchealth.com

📖 Read the full story in the Birmingham Business Journal.