{"slug": "why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs", "title": "Why aren't we using LLM's to chemically redesign old drugs?", "summary": "A Hacker News user proposed using large language models to chemically redesign old drugs, specifically suggesting a Pt(IV) prodrug version of cisplatin with albumin-binding and glutathione-synthesis inhibitor ligands to reduce toxicity and improve tumor targeting. The post, which received 1 point and no comments, explores whether LLMs like ChatGPT could aid in drug redesign.", "body_md": "I was fooling around with Cisplatin, a chemo drug that made testicular cancer curable. Then I was like, I wonder how Chat GPT would improve this drug. It tried. Is this a good idea?\n\n\"The best chemical improvement is unlikely to be “a stronger cisplatin.” It should be a less reactive circulating molecule that becomes ordinary cisplatin only after tumor uptake. My preferred candidate is therefore: A neutral, asymmetric cisplatin-based Pt(IV) prodrug with one stabilized albumin-binding axial ligand and one reduction-released glutathione-synthesis inhibitor, with the axial electronics deliberately tuned to prevent premature blood reduction.\"\n\nComments URL: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49074935](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49074935)\n\nPoints: 1\n\n# Comments: 0", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs", "canonical_source": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49074935", "published_at": "2026-07-27 20:10:45+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-27 20:22:51.704656+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["large-language-models", "generative-ai", "ai-research"], "entities": ["ChatGPT", "cisplatin"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/why-aren-t-we-using-llm-s-to-chemically-redesign-old-drugs.jsonld"}}