First drug developed using machine learning enters clinical trials

Before a new medicine enters human trials, there is typically three to five years of work behind the scenes, researching causes for diseases and compounds that may help treat them. But working with British AI startup Exscientia, a Japanese drug development company called Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co. is about to start phase 1 clinical trials after only 12 months. The drug in question is DSP-1181, a prospective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD affects millions of people worldwide, to varying degrees, and can be debilitating in its psychological effects. Exscientia, based in Oxford, UK, operates an exciting machine learning platform called Centaur Chemist. The platform allegedly takes years off the time required to research new compounds, by combining A.I. techniques with existing knowledge of how medicines interact with the human body.