Developed by the biotechnology company Insilico Medicine, the first drug made by Artificial Intelligence entered the human testing phase. The drug NS018_055 was conducted in partnership with Nvidia, a company that works in the development of electronic components.
The AI medicine will be used as a treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that affects respiratory conditions causing high rates of death due to the progressive conditions of the disease.
Learn more about the creation of the first drug made by AI, its testing phase and the impact that NS018_055 can have on the pharmaceutical industry. Keep reading to learn more.
How was the first AI-made medicine developed?
In the new global landscape, the development of the first AI-powered drug is part of a race between major pharmaceutical companies and investors to seize a $50 billion market opportunity in the pharmaceutical industry.
All these billion-dollar investments have been earmarked for the sector as a way to assist in the developments of artificial intelligence tools that aim to revolutionize the way medicines are produced.
The development of NS018_055 widely utilized generative artificial intelligence in all its process phases. The AI-made medicine is considered to have great potential for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
During the development process and through the use of generative AI technology, it was possible to identify promising molecules capable of reaching the desired target, generating new compounds, evaluating efficiency and predicting partial results.
The first drug made by AI has now entered phase II of clinical trials, when it will be tested in humans.
What is known so far about the testing phases is an overview from the scientist, Alex Zhavoronkov, founder of Insilico Medicine, who reported only on the start of testing and the nationality of the first human to use the drug, in this case a Chinese patient.
How can AI medicine impact the pharmaceutical market?
If research results in human trials of the AI-made medicine remain promising and positive, it will represent a disruptive revolution in the area of pharmaceutical research, reducing the production time of new drugs as well as costs across the industry.
In a statement, the company’s founder said that AI platforms have emerged to potentially reduce the time it takes to discover drugs, as well as lower the costs to bring them to market.
The adoption of generative AI has allowed NS018_055 to be produced in less than 18 months, while the industry average for this type of product is around 6 years.
The AI-driven technological revolution is having a transformative impact on the pharmaceutical industry. Generative AI has already been applied in many fields, from the discovery of new drugs to the optimization of production processes.
This technology has played a key role in accelerating drug discovery and development, providing major breakthroughs and opening up new opportunities for the industry. The development of the drug demonstrates that these findings do not have to be a traditionally complex and time-consuming process with a high risk of failure.
The power of AI to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns will transform the pharmaceutical industry not only in rapid screening, predicting their pharmacokinetic, toxicity and efficacy properties so that the most promising compounds can be selected for further research, but also generating a major economic impact in reducing costs.
Want to know more about the future of AI and the professions that can emerge from this growth? Read more here.