Encoding creativity in drug discovery

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly employed to support drug discovery over the last decade. Pioneering start-ups have worked to convince traditional firms that AI and machine learning can save time and money, while amplifying novelty.

An estimated 86% of drug development programmes ended in failure between 2000 and 2015. Meanwhile estimates of the cost of bring a new drug to market range from hundreds of millions to several billion dollars. ‘We need to change the economics of the pharmaceutical industry. We need to change the way drugs are invented,’ says Andrew Hopkins, founder of Exscientia.