The paper explores how large language models (LLMs) can be trained for small-molecule drug design by using synthetic tasks that are cheaper to evaluate. By employing a curriculum that gradually increases task difficulty, the authors demonstrate that LLMs can learn design strategies that outperform larger models on structure-based lead optimization. This approach shows that scaling post‑training with synthetic tasks can effectively adapt LLMs to high‑cost experimental scenarios that are otherwise infeasible to train on directly.
By Frank Hu, Shriram Chennakesavalu, Zichen Wang, Patricia Suriana, Bodhi Vani, Kirill Shmilovich, Kangway Chuang, Colin Grambow
arXiv:2609.00189v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Goal-directed optimization is essential for steering molecular generators to propose candidates with desired properties. However, it is often implement...
By Shiyun Wa, Yifei Wang, Anna G. Green, Simone Sciabola, Ye Wang
PGFS++ is a synthesis‑aware reinforcement learning framework that improves molecular properties while ensuring the resulting molecules can be synthesized and remain structurally similar to the input. It builds on PGFS+ by using trainable embedding lookup tables for reaction templates and second reactants, a more effective scoring function, and a refined RL algorithm. Experiments demonstrate that PGFS++ enhances target properties and preserves high output diversity, overcoming the reward‑hacking failure mode seen in earlier versions.
By Boqiao Zhang, Godbless James, Sai Krishna Gottipati, Andrew Fitzgibbon
arXiv:2605. 15354v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Despite the success of foundation models in language and vision, molecular graph generation still lacks a unified framework for heterogeneous design tasks with reliable controllability.
By Yihan Zhu, Yuhan Liu, Weijiang Li, Tengfei Luo, Meng Jiang
arXiv:2606. 01220v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Generating molecules that simultaneously satisfy drug-like properties and conform to the 3D structure of a target protein is a core challenge in structure-based drug design (SBDD).
By Guang Lin, Shikui Tu, Lei Xu
PGFS++ is a synthesis‑aware reinforcement learning framework that improves molecular properties such as drug‑likeness or binding affinity while ensuring the resulting molecules can be synthesized and remain structurally similar to the input. It builds on PGFS+ by using trainable embedding lookup tables for reaction templates and second reactants, a more effective scoring function, and a refined RL algorithm. The method addresses a reward‑hacking failure mode by treating each input molecule as the start of a forward‑synthesis trajectory, applying learned reaction templates with in‑stock building blocks, and producing diverse, high‑quality outputs with explicit synthesis routes.
arXiv:2609.36683v1 Announce Type: new
Abstract: Molecular optimization is inherently iterative: a candidate is proposed, evaluated against several objectives, and revised while preserving a relations...
By Shicheng Fang, Yuxin Wang, Zhuo Yang, Xiaohu Xu, Jiahao Lu, Chuanyuan Tan, Tong Zhu, Yining Zheng, Xipeng Qiu
arXiv:2606. 24990v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Reinforcement Learning (RL) has become a powerful paradigm for de novo molecular design, enabling Chemical Language Models (CLMs) to navigate and explore the chemical space while optimizing specific desired properties.
By Borja Medina, Jon Paul Janet
arXiv:2606. 18961v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Protein language models (PLMs) have emerged as powerful tools for controllable biomolecular design, yet their post-training adaptation typically relies on costly wet-lab validation or curated preference datasets.
By Lanqing Li, Shentong Mo, Yang Yu, Pheng-Ann Heng
arXiv:2604.07669v3 Announce Type: replace-cross
Abstract: Synthesizable molecular optimization seeks to improve target properties while ensuring that molecular modifications follow feasible synthetic...
By Tao Li, Kaiyuan Hou, Tuan Vinh, Fanglei Xue, Monika Raj, Zhichun Guo, Carl Yang
Protein language models (PLMs) have emerged as powerful tools for controllable biomolecular design, yet their post-training adaptation typically relies on costly wet-lab validation or curated preference datasets. To overcome this supervision bottleneck, we introduce unsupervised reward optimization of PLMs, a comprehensive framework for steerable protein generation without ground-truth labels.
arXiv:2607. 02834v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Molecular optimization often starts from a pretrained generative model that captures a broad prior over valid molecular structures.
By Trevor Chen, Ariel Dai, Jason Yang, Riccardo De Santi, Daniel Khalil, Wenda Chu, Nate Gruver, Pranav Murugan, Alexander F. G. Goldberg, Maruan Al-Shedivat, Yisong Yue