An experimental drug designed with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) to target an aggressive and often fatal lung disease has entered phase 2 clinical trials in China and the United States – a world first for an AI-generated drug, according to AI drug discovery firm Insilico Medicine.
The company said its AI-led methodology has made drug discovery faster and more efficient and is proof of “the promising potential of generative AI technologies for transforming the industry”.
“The integration of AI, robotics and ageing research will allow us to find complete cures to very complicated diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and many others,” Zhavoronkov said, adding that AI has the potential to provide humans with tools to completely avoid these diseases.
In 2014, the company started training deep neural networks to understand human ageing, leveraging AI capabilities to record, track and analyse people’s health throughout their lives.
“AI can understand billions of people just by understanding ageing. It can then start understanding the basic biology of diseases, and not only to slow them down,” Zhavoronkov said.
