DSM-Firmenich Bolsters AI’s Role in Ingredient Discovery with Boltz

DSM-Firmenich is furthering its AI capabilities for ingredient discovery with a new partnership with AI startup Bolz.

Founded by former MIT scientists that create AI models for biomolecular modeling, Bolz will help put its proprietary foundation models to work in DSM-Firmenich’s ingredient-discovery process, used to develop the next generation of scent and flavor molecules, officials said.

“Having launched the world’s first AI-created flavor back in 2020, DSM-Firmenich has long been a pioneer in the use of AI,” said Sarah Reisinger, chief science and research officer, DSM-Firmenich. “Being at the very forefront of this technology brings significant value to our businesses. That’s why we’ve chosen to partner with Boltz, a pioneering company with unrivaled AI models, built on scientific expertise from MIT, widely recognized as one of the world’s leading universities.”

Unlocking New Possibilities

Officials say combining these frontier AI models with DSM-Firmenich’s library of taste and odor receptor data will help unlock new creative possibilities across the company’s businesses, accelerating innovation and opening new spaces for innovation. Officials hope the partnership yields a set of exclusive models that capture decades’ worth of know-how in sensory sciences. These models will be used for predicting and designing molecule structure, learning how molecules interact with the specialized proteins that are our receptors — the sensors in our noses, mouths and other parts of our bodies that translate the chemistry of the outside world into signals our brain can understand, officials said.

“Beyond pharmaceuticals, biomolecular interaction and design models have the potential to transform life science products across many industries,” said Gabriele Corso, co-founder and CEO, Boltz. “We are excited to work with DSM-Firmenich to tackle odor and taste receptors – some of the most interesting and understudied proteins in the human body – by combining our best-in-class models with their unmatched expertise in this field.”