A new era of AI-powered drug discovery is dawning. This week, biotech firm Insilico Medicine launched Phase 2 clinical trials testing the safety and efficacy of a drug designed entirely by artificial intelligence. This pioneering trial signals a future where AI transforms pharmaceutical research and development to deliver better medicines faster and more affordably.

Historically, drug discovery has been an arduous, expensive, and failure-prone process. After identifying a disease-causing protein, researchers sift through enormous libraries of molecules seeking promising candidates to synthesize. The few that make it to human testing still face daunting odds, with over 99% never gaining approval. From initial discovery to market takes 12-15 years and around $1 billion per approved drug.

Insilico is disrupting this paradigm by harnessing two forms of artificial intelligence: generative adversarial networks (GANs) and reinforcement learning. GANs enable rapid generation of novel molecular structures. Reinforcement learning then optimizes these compounds through iterative trial-and-error guided by feedback. Together, these AI techniques design high-potential drug candidates in a fraction of the typical timescale and cost.

The company’s latest breakthrough is INS018_055, a small molecule inhibitor developed in just 21 months that shows promise for treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease affecting 5 million worldwide. Insilico is now recruiting 60 patients with IPF across China and the US to assess the drug’s safety and efficacy in Phase 2 trials, a critical milestone toward eventual approval.

So far, Insilico has leveraged AI to discover 12 preclinical candidates, with 3 now in human trials. This accelerating progress demonstrates AI’s immense potential to accelerate pharmaceutical innovation. According to Morgan Stanley, AI tools could catalyze 50 new blockbuster drugs over the next decade worth over $50 billion.

“This trial is a moment of truth for Insilico and a litmus test for AI’s impact on the entire drug industry,” said Insilico’s founder Alex Zhavoronkov. “The future of medicine lies in amplifying human ingenuity with artificial intelligence.”

Indeed, Insilico’s breakthrough epitomizes the dawn of an AI-powered transformation in drug development. With further advances, AI promises to drive a new era delivering better medicines to patients exponentially faster.