Developing a treatment for Alzheimer's in the world of AI with Sacha Schermerhorn
July 7, 2026
Learn about clinical trial design for small molecule therapies using biomarkers in Alzheimer's research and AI in drug development. Brandon Li talks with Sacha Schermerhorn, Founder and CEO of Babylon Biosciences. They discuss why the industry needs to rethink disease pathology, how to recruit elite talent out of retirement, and the role of fine-tuned AI models in predicting clinical outcomes for patients.
Learn more about Alzheimer's disease drug development and clinical trial design for small molecule therapies using biomarkers in Alzheimer's research, and AI in drug development.
Solving neurodegeneration requires redefining how we view the timeline of disease. While billions have been spent on amyloid research, Sacha Schermerhorn suggests we may be focusing on the wrong markers at the wrong time.
In this episode, Brandon Li sits down with Sacha Schermerhorn, the Founder and CEO of Babylon Biosciences, to explore his unconventional approach to one of medicine’s hardest problems. Sacha shares how a personal family diagnosis fueled a decade of research and the eventual creation of a company designed to amortize risk through orthogonal shots on goal.
The conversation covers the "Burning House" analogy for pathology, the strategy behind recruiting legendary drug hunters like John Macor, and the development of a specialized AI model with OpenAI to forecast the success of clinical trials. They also examine why the highest leverage for AI lies in late-stage development and asset selection rather than early-stage screening.
What You’ll Learn:
- Why treating amyloid is 20 years too late
- The "Burning House" analogy for prioritizing treatment vectors
- How to recruit the "Avengers" of drug discovery out of retirement
- Using fine-tuned AI models to predict clinical trial primary endpoints
- Why AI creates more value in late-stage development than early screening
- The potential for 12-month biomarkers to enable prevention trials
- Managing the ethical implications of public clinical trial prediction markets
About the Guest:
Sacha Schermerhorn is the Founder and CEO of Babylon Biosciences, a small molecule therapeutics company focusing on Alzheimer’s disease. His commitment to the field began at age 15 and intensified following his grandmother’s diagnosis. Sacha has successfully assembled a team of world-class drug hunters to apply innovative computational tools and deep scientific expertise toward solving neurodegeneration.
Episode Resources: