Yardley native Alexander Lai, executive director of Vincogen Corp., made the INNO Under 25 list, which recognizes the top young innovators in Greater Philadelphia, writes Ryan Mulligan for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

The 25-year-old Lai is working at the intersection of two currently hot industries both locally and nationally: artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

As part of his position at Vincogen, Lai spearheaded the development of VincoAI, a generative AI model. It is considered to be one of the first generative AI models to predict binding sequences in peptide-protein. According to the company, ultimately, this could be used in various research areas as well as for the development of drugs, vaccines, and therapeutic candidates.

Vincogen was founded 23 years ago as a precision medicine company and today it is leaning into artificial intelligence. Its product could have ripple effects on Greater Philadelphia, as the presence of the company could be seen as an incentive for major pharmaceutical companies to set up shop in the area.

Lai earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Penn State University. He earned his master’s degree in biotechnology at Harvard University.

Read more about Alexander Lai in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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