ATLANTA — Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing drug development, significantly reducing the time it takes to bring life-saving treatments to market, drug companies say.
Traditionally, developing a new drug can take over a decade, but AI technology is changing that timeline. Major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and AstraZeneca are leveraging AI to accelerate the development of treatments for diseases such as COVID-19, chronic kidney disease and pulmonary fibrosis.
“You’re three to four years in the discovery phase … but with AI, we’ve seen drugs discovered in just 18 months — sometimes two years,” Alister Campbell of Dotmatics, a research software company, said.
Pfizer used AI to speed up the development of COVID-19 treatments, including Paxlovid, showcasing the potential of AI in urgent healthcare scenarios.
AstraZeneca is collaborating with AI companies to develop treatments for chronic kidney disease and pulmonary fibrosis, highlighting the versatility of AI in addressing various medical conditions.
Janssen, part of Johnson & Johnson, is leading with more than 100 AI projects focused on clinical trials, patient recruitment, and drug discovery, as well as aiding surgeons in improving their skills.
At Dotmatics, AI is used to analyze vast amounts of medical data to identify patterns that may not be apparent to human researchers, thus speeding up drug discovery processes.
Taylor Edwards, a student at the University of Florida, is part of a program that integrates AI into medicine, where she and her team use AI to analyze brain scans to enhance surgical precision.
A new bill in Congress proposes allowing AI to prescribe medications, which would necessitate amendments to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and require approval from individual states and the Food and Drug Administration.
As AI continues to advance, its role in medicine is expanding, offering tools that can be customized for various practices and potentially transforming the healthcare landscape.
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