First Alzheimer's disease drug candidate designed by AI enters Phase I clinical trials - Pharmafield

The world's first Alzheimer's disease (AD) drug candidate designed by artificial intelligence (AI) is entering Phase I clinical trials, thanks to a successful collaboration between Exscientia Ltd and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. In the announcement from Exscientia, it states that they will initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of DSP-0038 in the United States for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease psychosis. DSP-0038 is the third molecule created using Exscientia's Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enter clinical trials. The two earlier compounds are DSP-1181, announced in 2020 together with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Exscientia's immuno-oncology agent, EXS-21546, announced earlier this year. Joint research between Exscientia and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma designed DSP-0038 to be a single small molecule that exhibits high potency as an antagonist for the 5-HT2A receptor and agonist for the 5-HT1A receptor, whilst selectively avoiding similar receptors and unwanted targets, such as the dopamine D2 receptor.