ARTICLE 2: AI’s Impact on the Pharmaceutical Industry

This article is part of a three-article series on AI in drug discovery. You can explore the full series here.

Large Pharmaceutical Companies are incorporating AI into Drug Discovery

Below there are some examples how some of the largest traditional pharmaceutical companies are increasingly integrating AI in their drug discovery processes. In this section there is again a large tech company (Amazon) involved in drug development:

• GSK: GSK has established a $300 million partnership with Relation Therapeutics, a London-based biotech company, to develop treatments for osteoarthritis and fibrotic diseases using machine learning to analyse data from human tissues.
• AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Amazon Web Services and others: Those companies have created the venture AION Labs. AION Labs has set up different subsidiaries that focus on several aspects related to the adoption of AI and machine learning in pharmaceutical discovery and development processes.
• Takeda, Sanofi and the MIT Jameel Clinic: The MIT Jameel Clinic is a research centre at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology specializing in AI and health science. In a partnership with Takeda and Sanofi, the MIT Jameel Clinic is advancing research in AI and health, focusing on developing new AI applications for drug discovery.
• CSL: Australia's largest health company, CSL, is using AI to accelerate drug development and create more personalized treatments for various serious diseases.

These collaborations and initiatives demonstrate the commitment of traditional pharmaceutical companies to take advantage from AI technologies, aiming to streamline drug discovery, reduce development timelines, and improve therapeutic outcomes.

Changing the landscape: pharma companies growing fast thanks to AI drug discovery

As in any new technological innovation, some companies are faster at acquiring and taking advantage of the new technologies. AI-driven drug discovery is actively being pursued by several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, each implementing AI technologies in innovative ways. Notably among them, the following companies are applying AI in their drug discovery processes:

• Insilico Medicine– Insilico Medicine integrates deep learning algorithms into several aspects of drug discovery, from target identification to the design of novel molecules. The company’s Pharma.AI platformuses AI to identify novel drug targets, develop biomarkers, and design small molecule drugs. One of their main achievements includes designing a novel drug for fibrosisthat entered clinical trials in just 20 months, a process that would typically take much longer using traditional methods.
• Exscientia– Exscientia is a leading company in AI-driven drug designand optimization.The company uses AI algorithms to predict and optimize the properties of small molecules. The company’s AI platform analyzes large molecular datasets to optimize lead compounds, and one of their greatest achievements includes designing DSP-1181, an AI-designed drug candidate that entered clinical trials in just 12 months, a stark contrast to the typical 4-5 years required for traditional drug discovery. Exscientia has partnered with major pharmaceutical companies, such as Bristol-Myers Squibband Sanofi, to develop AI-designed therapies across different therapeutic fields.
• Atomwise– Atomwise applies deep learning to structure-based drug discovery. The company has developed an AI based technology to predict how small molecules bind to protein targets, significantly speeding up the screening process. Atomwise's AI-driven platform has been used to identify drug candidates for diseases such as Ebola, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. The company’s has developed a know-how to virtually screen millions of compounds to identify potential candidates in a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional methods.
• DeepMind’s AlphaFold– DeepMind’s is a subsidiary Alphabet, the company owning Google. The AI system AlphaFold developed by DeepMind’s is revolutionizing drug discovery by predicting protein structures with remarkable accuracy. AlphaFold uses AI to predict the three-dimensional shapes of proteins, which is crucial for understanding how proteins interact with other molecules. This capability allows scientists to identify potential drug targets more efficiently. AlphaFold’s predictions have been crucial in the development of drugs targeting diseases like COVID-19and Alzheimer’s diseaseby revealing previously hidden aspects of protein folding that were impossible to discern using traditional techniques.

These companies are leading the charge in AI-driven drug discovery, employing cutting-edge technologies to significantly reduce research timelines, increase the success rates of clinical trials, and cut the costs traditionally associated with drug development.

Continue reading the series: ➡ The Future of AI in Drug Development & CymitQuimica’s Contribution (Article 3)