Artificially Intelligent Drugs

Big pharma and AI are teaming up to improve drug development, from the lab to the medicine cabinet

- Matthew Flynn

Machine learning and artificial intelligence are impacting daily life and industries across the planet, so it should come as no surprise that AI in healthcare is on the rise. Perhaps one of the most interesting applications of the technology is its use in pharmaceuticals. The promise of more efficient development, testing, and delivery of drugs is leading to partnerships between some of the biggest names in the pharmaceutical industry and smaller companies that specialize in AI and robotics.

AI IN HEALTHCARE

IBM’s Watson for Health, Microsoft’s Project Hanover, and Google’s DeepMind Health have been making headlines for using AI in healthcare, and for good reason. They have all made great strides in improving efficiency and using data analytics to the benefits of patients and providers. Watson paired with Quest Diagnostics to develop individualized cancer treatments based on data analysis and tumor sequencing, while Project Hanover partnered with the Knight Cancer Institute to personalize treatment for acute myeloid leukemia and DeepMind developed the Streams app, which has been put in place at the NHS in the UK to streamline patient care.

Yet, there are still many ways AI could be used in the field that have yet to be fully explored or implemented. Much like the way data is gathered to provide a more personal treatment plan and preventive care for patients, AI in pharmaceuticals can harness the power of big data to find appropriate patients to recruit for clinical trials and anticipate potential problematic side effects based on a patient’s history and genetics.