Success-Driven Drug Discovery with OpenBench CEO James Yoder

Success-Driven Drug Discovery with OpenBench CEO James Yoder

From Data in Biotech by CorrDyn

February 11, 2026 · 54 min · Season 1 · Episode 65

About this episode

James Yoder discusses OpenBench's innovative approach to drug discovery and the impact of data and AI on biotech R&D.

In this episode of Data in Biotech , host Ross Katz sits down with James Yoder, Founder and CEO of OpenBench, to unpack a radical new approach to early-stage drug discovery. James shares how OpenBench's "success-driven" model shifts risk away from biotech partners by only charging for validated hits. They dive deep into computational screening, molecular modeling, and the company's evolving tech stack that's making hit discovery smarter and more accessible. Discover how data, AI, and strategic collaboration are redefining biotech R&D. What you'll learn in this episode: >> Why OpenBench moved away from SaaS to a success-based service model >> How their computational platform predicts binding affinity and screens trillions of compounds >> The role of data flywheels and ML in improving drug discovery success rates >> Real-world case studies from biotech collaborations >> How OpenBench evaluates druggable targets in one week Meet our guest James Yoder is the Founder and CEO of OpenBench. With a background in statistics, data science, and applied machine learning, he leads OpenBench's mission to deliver validated drug discovery hits through…

People in this episode

Host: Ross Katz

Guest: James Yoder

Topics covered

  • drug discovery
  • computational screening
  • machine learning
  • biotech
  • data-driven innovation

Keywords

  • drug discovery
  • computational modeling
  • binding affinity
  • biotech collaborations
  • data flywheels

Sponsors

CorrDyn

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OpenBench

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