AI revolution in drug discovery goes viral

Scientists at UC San Diego have made a machine learning algorithm for drug discovery, moving away from the time-consuming chemistry that has been used earlier.

This AI platform could significantly streamline the process and open doors for new treatments, according to SciTech Daily.

Thousands of individual experiments are needed to be typically involved for further optimisation.

However, the new artificial intelligence (AI) platform could potentially give the same results in a fraction of the time.

To improve drug discovery and development, the technology is part of a new but growing trend in pharmaceutical science of using AI.

"A few years ago, AI was a dirty word in the pharmaceutical industry, but now the trend is definitely the opposite, with biotech startups finding it difficult to raise funds without addressing AI in their business plan," said senior author Trey Ideker, professor in the Department of Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. 

"AI-guided drug discovery has become a very active area in the industry, but unlike the methods being developed in companies, we’re making our technology open source and accessible to anybody who wants to use it."

Named POLYGON, the new platform is unique among AI tools for drug discovery.