Japanese AI drug is going to be tested on humans

March 10, 2020

A drug developed by artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be tested on humans in Japan. This AI drug could treat OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).The smart health treatment was jointly developed by Exscientia, a British start-up, and the Japanese pharmaceutical laboratory Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma.

The treatment reached this phase of clinical trials in twelve months where the process usually takes about four and a half years, says the Financial Times.

“Solid scientific principles” AI drug could treat OCD

The algorithms created by Exscientia have generated tens of millions of different compositions of the drug, dubbed DSP-1181. The programs then sorted out all of these formulas to keep only the most likely to have a beneficial effect on the brain receptor affected by the pathology.

The process took place “in a much lower number of steps, which is really impressive,” said Sir John Bel, a professor of medicine who was not involved in the project. And it rests, according to him, on “solid scientific principles”.

Algorithmic pharmacology

Machine learning and AI have been used to date to identify new categories of patients who can be prescribed existing drugs. Using these technologies to develop novel, effective and harmless formulas for humans has proven to be more complex.

The work of Japanese and British specialists therefore marks a major step forward in the field of algorithm-assisted pharmacology. Especially since the latter “can be applied to all types of treatment against many diseases in oncology or rare or cardiovascular pathologies”, welcomes Andrew Hopkins, director of Exscientia.