Four years ago, the $70 billion Alibaba Group, one of the world's biggest artificial intelligence users, teamed up with Mars, the $35 billion global leader in confectioneries, to figure out the types of candy and chocolates that consumers in China prefer. The fresh consumer data that Alibaba continually gathers from the millions of people shopping on its various platforms turned up the counterintuitive finding that many Chinese who buy chocolates also purchase spicy snacks at the same time. Using that data-driven insight, Mars developed a sweet-and-spicy product: a candy bar that contains Szechuan peppercorns, the source of China's spicy "mala" flavor. Even though Mars didn't conduct any other consumer research to reinforce the A.I.-driven insight, Spicy Snickers proved to be a winner on the mainland. Depending on A.I. also saved the company time; instead of the two to three years that it normally takes to launch a product, Mars was able to bring Spicy Snickers to market for the first time in August 2017, less than 12 months after the collaboration with Alibaba started.

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.

The first drug designed using artificial intelligence (AI) has moved into its Phase I trial. Professor Andrew Hopkins of Exscientia explains how an algorithm was used to achieve this milestone. In a landmark development, the first drug created using artificial intelligence (AI) has moved into its Phase I trial. Named DSP-1181, the compound was created in a joint venture between Exscientia and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Speaking with Drug Target Review's Victoria Rees, Professor Andrew Hopkins, Chief Executive Officer of Exscientia, explained how the drug was discovered and optimised in only 12 months.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are increasingly becoming a part of drug discovery and development beginning with identifying new compounds to structuring and designing clinical trials and targeting clinical trial populations. A recent example came out of Linköping University in Sweden. The investigators utilized an artificial neural network to create maps of biological networks based on how different genes or proteins interact with each other. The AI was then taught to find patterns of gene expression. And in mid-February, a drug developed using AI began testing in human clinical trials.

In a world first, a medicine developed by artificial intelligence may be used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The news is remarkable and hints that in the future, AI may help drug development become faster and more efficiently than ever before. The first non-man made drug molecule, DSP-1181, has now entered Phase 1 clinical trials, European Pharmaceutical Review reported. The molecule is a long-acting potent serotonin 5-HT1A receptor agonist and was developed using AI that was the product of a partnership between Japan's Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma and Exscientia in the UK. The compound was developed in a remarkable time, with AI able to complete in 12 months what typically takes five years.

A new drug created with artificial intelligence (AI) to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) will be entering human clinical trials this March – a first for AI. It has cut the drug development time from four and a half years to just 12 months, accelerating the time it typically takes to develop drugs for clinical trials. Exscientia, an Oxford-based AI start-up, collaborated with the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma to develop the OCD drug. It has been difficult to invent new drugs with AI that are safe and effective for humans to use. But, it has been successful with machine learning algorithms to look through data and identify which patients can benefit the most from existing medicines. AI has also been used beyond medical approaches, and has also been used to track the coronavirus outbreak and to tackle America's opioid crisis.