The number of drugs designed using artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to increase over the next 10 years, according to key opinion leaders (KOLs) when interviewed on AI in drug discovery by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s latest report, “AI in Drug Discovery 2024”, reveals that KOLs believe that the future will allow more data to be fed into AI algorithms and other AI-supported tools. This will enhance decision making and improve the overall drug discovery process, leading to an increase in the number of AI-designed drugs.
According to GlobalData’s Drug Database and a series of searches relating to AI, over 2,800 unique drugs from over 700 different companies have been determined to have been discovered using AI-based techniques. These companies range from start-ups and small biotech companies that have discovered drugs using in-house AI platforms, such as Standigm, to AI vendors with their own drug pipelines that also offer support to pharma companies for their drug discovery, such as Recursion Pharmaceuticals.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals has the highest number of drugs discovered using AI, with 89 drugs. This was followed by Cellix Bio (52), Healx (34), Insilico Medicine (33), and Biolexis Therapeutics (30).
George El-Helou, Strategic Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “In recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has been entering a golden period of development, especially with the rapid advancement of AI. Also, with the widespread application of big data, AI has shown significant potential and value in the field of drug discovery.”
GlobalData’s B2B surveys*, which investigate the use of emerging technologies in pharma, including AI, also reveal that 63% of pharma companies asked were confident in AI’s ability to transform the pharma industry.
El-Helou concludes: “However, it will take time to fully integrate AI into the drug discovery process. Although the technology can make drug discovery less time-consuming and more cost effective, AI requires high quality data to generate accurate and meaningful results.”
* GlobalData’s B2B survey fielded with 312 pharmaceutical industry professionals from July 10 2024 to August 22 2024
