AI Monkey Business

Software Meets Biology

Designing a drug on a computer is getting cheaper. Proving that it works remains a physical business.

In our October 21st post, we described how Citrini Research used Anthropic’s Claude to help design potential scorpion-antivenom proteins. Twist Bioscience and Adaptyv Bio did the physical synthesis and testing, with a combined bill just under $150,000. The next steps include testing whether the candidates protect animals and assessing their safety.

Citrini has now pointed to another potential beneficiary. On October 21st, it posted, “So bullish western monkey supply,” tagging Charles River Laboratories (CRL):

The Testing Business Already Has An AI Connection

Charles River supplies research models and drug-discovery and safety-testing services. Its AI connection is already commercial: the company says it provides nonclinical testing services to companies in Eli Lilly’s TuneLab ecosystem. TuneLab gives participating companies access to AI models trained on pharmaceutical research data; Charles River supplies scientific validation.

Its discovery services include experiments in cells and living organisms. The investment thesis is straightforward: cheaper design can generate more promising candidates, creating more work for the companies equipped to test them.

That’s the demand we’d watch in Charles River’s results: more programs advancing into paid studies, and those studies producing profitable revenue. Citrini’s monkey-supply observation points to one physical constraint within that broader testing business.

We’ve Traded The Lab Suppliers Before

Twist Bioscience supplies synthetic DNA and protein services used in this work. We’ve returned to the name when it passed our screens and the options offered an attractive setup. Here’s the July 15th entry from our most recent completed Twist trade:

The trade filled at $4.50. After staged exits, it finished on October 6th with a 132.1% return on its original $950 maximum risk. Here’s the outcome:

Our September Charles River Trade

Charles River appeared among Portfolio Armor’s Top Names, our ranked stock-selection list, before Citrini’s new post. We entered this trade on September 14th. The card shows our original terms and Chartmill ratings at entry:

We entered at a net credit slightly above the card’s minimum, so the trade will finish at least modestly profitable if the stock is above $220 at its February 19th, 2027 expiration. For the original structure, maximum gain occurs at $360 or higher at that expiration.

Charles River closed October 21st at $344.87, up 9.33% for the day, and up 26% since we entered the trade above. Another 4.4% rise would put the shares at $360, the level of our max gain. We’ll consider an additional trade when CRL next passes our screens—the same repeatable approach we’ve used with Twist.

Finding The Next Physical Bottleneck

AI-designed drugs still need synthesis, testing and validation. We’re looking for the suppliers that can turn that work into earnings, then using our screens and options analysis to find attractive ways to trade them.

If you’d like a heads-up when we place our next trade at the intersection of AI and biotechnology, become a free subscriber below. 

To see how our stock selection and options approach fit together, start here: