According to Dr. Bertalan Meskó, The Medical Futurist, the use of artificial intelligence is significantly accelerating the drug discovery and development process. Using predictive modeling algorithms, that allow computers to learn from performing repetitive tasks, AI systems create considerable time and cost savings. When developing biologic drugs, for example, they can help predict how large complex molecules will behave, cutting down on the need for testing and investment capital. With the potential that lies in AI-aided drug design, Dr. Meskó foresees disruption in the pharmaceutical industry. He sees startups using AI for drug design becoming pharma companies themselves. Soon, he says, they’ll be running their own clinical trials. This will allow startups to have more input in a new drug’s fate and see it through from conception to fruition, rather than just lending its algorithm and having big pharma take over the rest of the process.
Dr. Bertalan Meskó – The Medical Futurist and the Director of The Medical Futurist Institute analyzing how science fiction technologies can become a reality in medicine and healthcare.
AI’s Benefits In Drug Research And Development
As investors in pharmaceutical companies are well aware, the reward for developing a successful drug is very high. But so too is the rate of failure for companies trying to develop new drugs and/or therapies. This is why the introduction of AI into the equation is so exciting. Artificial intelligence can help in every stage of the research and development process, significantly reducing time and cost to take a drug to market. An incredible amount of time and money goes into drug development. Bringing a new drug to market can cost pharmaceutical companies an average $2.6 billion and ten years of research and development, according to Taconic Biosciences’ estimates. But using artificial intelligence systems in the process can help improve those odds, which is why this relatively virgin field has started to attract so much capital.
AI For Drug R&D Starting To Attract Serious Capital
AI‘s myriad of applications can bring speed and savings in this healthcare sector. So its no surprise that a 2019 report by Grand View Research forecasts that the market of artificial intelligence in global healthcare will reach 31 billion dollars by 2025. What may be a surprise to some, is that AI to streamline the drug making process is now starting to garner some of the most sizable sums compared to startups deploying AI in other healthcare segments.
Startups Have Taken The Lead In AI For Drug Development
Innovative young startups are utilizing AI systems to accelerate every stage of drug discovery and development, including target discovery, lead optimization, toxicity assessment and innovative trial design.
Companies like Atomwise, Turbine and Deep Genomics use artificial intelligence to identify the most suitable drugs for medical conditions. Compared to traditional methods, they are doing it way more efficiently, and in record time, while they actually manage to cut down on the costs. A prime example is Atomwise, a company that’s providing its algorithm to perform drug research in developing a treatment for treating Ebola. The algorithm predicted that two compounds would prevent the Ebola virus from entering the cell. This analysis, which typically would have taken months or even years, was completed in days!
