UNC develops artificial intelligence system to design new drugs - Pharmaceutical Technology

A new artificial intelligence approach can design drugs from scratch and is expected to help bring new drugs to patients quicker. Researchers from the University of North Carolina's (UNC) Eshelman School of Pharmacy have developed a new artificial intelligence system that can teach itself to create new drug candidates from scratch. Called Reinforcement Learning for Structural Evolution (ReLeaSE), the new approach is expected to potentially expedite the design and development of new drugs. The algorithm and computer programme features two neural networks, one of which carries knowledge on chemical structures for nearly 1.7 million biologically active molecules. The second network learns from the first one, over time, and proposes molecules with potential as new therapeutics.