Drug created using AI to face clinical trial for the first time ever

A drug molecule created using Artificial Intelligence (AI) will undergo clinical trials for the first time in the world; this drug will be tested in humans. A British based start-up, Exscientia and a Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma created the AI-based drug molecule. Both the firms together developed the drug for treating Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

This drug required only 12 months to get a trial, whereas a typical drug development to treat OCD requires almost five years of getting to trial. Prof Andrew Hopkins, chief executive at Exscienta, described the new AI drug as a "key milestone in drug discovery." In recent times AI is being used in various diagnosis and analysis of different scans and data.

They have used an algorithm that will screen through the large drug compounds as well as a huge database like DSP-1181 which is a molecule for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The drug will be facing the first clinical trial in Japan. If successful, more tests will be carried out globally. Both firms are also working on potential drugs to treat cardiovascular diseases and cancer. This drug will be undergoing clinical trials by the end of this year.

To ensure that a drug is precise, it requires billions of decisions to find out the right molecules as well as the target site to which it will attach. This is made easy through the application of artificial intelligence. Since the algorithm is agnostic, it can be used for any disease.