AI-generated drug to be tested on lung disease patients

Insilico Medicine have been developing an AI-generated drug to help treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis that has just entered human testing. Credit: PA

The first drug generated by artificial intelligence has entered clinical trials with lung disease patients.

Developed by biotech company Insilico Medicine, the drug is hoped to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) - a condition where the lungs become scarred and breathing becomes increasingly difficult.

Around five million people suffer from IPF worldwide.

Several treatments can help reduce the rate at which IPF gets worse, but there's currently no treatment that can stop or reverse the scarring of the lungs - and those with chronic scarring have a median survival rate of around three years.

The company said the drug, INS018_055, was the first entirely “AI-discovered and AI designed” drug to begin a phase 2 clinical trial and represented an important milestone for the industry.

“This first drug candidate that’s going to Phase 2 is a true highlight of our end-to-end approach to bridge biology and chemistry with deep learning,” said Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine.

"This is a significant milestone not only for us, but for everyone in the field of AI-accelerated drug discovery.”

Phase 2 clinical trials involve drugs being tested for safety and efficacy on a small group of patients.

"When we first presented our results, people just did not believe that generative AI systems could achieve this level of diversity, novelty and accuracy,” said Zhavoronkov. “Now that we have an entire pipeline of promising drug candidates, people are realizing that this actually works.”

The study is a randomised trial to evaluate candidates in wider populations, the company plans to recruit 60 subjects with IPF at about 40 sites in both the US and China.

“With demonstrated potential against both fibrosis and inflammation, INS018_055 could offer another option for patients worldwide,” said Feng Ren, co-chief executive and chief scientific officer of Insilico Medicine.

“The achievement of the first dose for INS018_055 in the Phase 2 clinical trial is not only an important step for Insilico, but also a milestone for AI-driven drug discovery and development. Together, we are expecting more achievements powered by AI for global unmet medical needs.”

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to be rolled out more widely across the NHS in a bid to diagnose diseases and treat patients faster. Credit: PA

There is no telling how successful AI-discovered drugs or platforms can be, but the NHS recently announced that cancer waiting times could be slashed through the use of AI.

A new tool known as OSAIRIS, claims to be able to save doctors hours in preparing scans and helping to slash the time patients have to wait between referral for radiotherapy and starting treatment.

The tool, which has been developed by oncologists at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, works by cutting the amount of time a doctor needs to spend drawing around healthy organs on scans before radiotherapy.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.