One of the most important medical research breakthroughs in decades went barely noticed among the year-end election, pandemic, vaccine and stimulus headlines.

But it’s a once-in-a-generation event. A game-changer.

You see, DeepMind, an artificial intelligence (AI) unit of Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL), solved a problem that has vexed scientists for 50 years.

It created an algorithm called AlphaFold that can quickly and accurately predict how proteins fold when developing in our cells.

That might sound trivial, but it promises to change the $195 billion drug-development market.

Here’s how…

The Key to Discovering New Drugs

Proteins are the building blocks of human cells. They are also the focus of new medicines to treat a variety of diseases.

But scientists lack a dependable method for predicting how proteins will fold and change their shape as they develop. Those folds determine how they interact with cells and if that interaction has promise as a new medicine.

The traditional approach involves a lot of trial and error to manipulate proteins that could become a successful drug. It’s a process that can take years and cost millions of dollars.

Yet many ultimately fail. That’s why investing in biotech companies can be so risky.

But DeepMind’s approach changes all of that. In fact, its AI determined one protein structure in just 30 minutes, where another researcher had spent a decade doing so using the old method.

Like I said: this breakthrough is a once-in-a-generation advance … and it’s a massive opportunity for early investors.

How to Profit From 52% Annual Growth

AI and computational platforms are the next frontiers in drug discovery, and DeepMind is just one example.

These technology platforms dramatically reduce both the time and cost of discovering new proteins and other molecules to treat diseases while increasing chances of success.

And with new advances like those by DeepMind, AI use in drug development will increase exponentially. One estimate pegs the compound annual growth rate at 52% a year. This will create a $3 billion market in the next four years.

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Biotech firms like those in the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech ETF (NYSE: FBT) will be a clear beneficiary of these breakthroughs in technology. But there are also firms whose sole focus is on developing and deploying this new frontier in AI.

In fact, we’ve identified one such company in the most recent issue of The Bauman Letter. Just click here to find out more about this AI pioneer in drug discovery and how it could hand us 200% profits in two or three years.

Best regards,

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Clint Lee

Research Analyst, The Bauman Letter