First AI-Designed Drug to Enter Phase I Clinical Trial

Oxford-based company Exscientia has collaborated with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma in developing drugs using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. DSP-1181, the first drug designed by AI, aims to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and is all set to be evaluated in a Phase I human clinical trial in Japan.

While drug development endeavors traditionally require 4 to 5 years, it has taken just 12 months for the new AI designed drug to enter human trials. This shows the potential of AI technology in promoting drug development apart from its prowess in the areas of diagnostics and patient data analysis. Aside from the Japanese partner, Exscientia has also cooperated with Evotec, Sanofi, Roche, GlaxoSmithKline, and Bayer. Several other drugs targeting cardiovascular disease and cancer are expected to enter clinical trials later this year.

According to Forbes, several start-ups have devoted themselves to applying AI to pharmaceutical development. Toronto based Cyclica launched its AI drug project with specified Ligand Expressing technology. Insilico Medicine is working on aging and drug mining along with Pfizer. Although the effectiveness is still unknown, innovative drug development facilitating AI, machine learning, deep learning is undoubtedly a noteworthy trend.

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References

1. https://www.ds-pharma.com/ir/news/pdf/ene20200130.pdf
2. https://aitimes.media/2020/02/03/4043/?13571

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GeneOnline