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URE OF PHARMA If AI delivers on its promise, then there will be a material increase in the rate of new medicines. coming to market.
numerous high-value deals between ‘big pharma’ and providers of AI technologies. As a recent example, Eversheds Sutherland advised global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca on its long-term collaboration with BenevolentAI to use AI and machine learning for the discovery and development of potential new treatments for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Further to this, even if the prospect of machines inventing medicines is some way off, the use of AI to improve efficiency
and speed up drug discovery is a realistic prospect today. AI technologies may also be utilised in areas of manufacturing which are amenable to predictive modelling and predictive support, such as process optimisation. The use of such AI tools within smart factories and smart manufacturing is enabling less down-time in the manufacturing process and driving stronger results. And AI tools are also beginning to be deployed on a more wide-spread basis within the ‘back office’ such as within accounting technology. As AI tools and computing power become more accessible and affordable, as with any technology, it will become very much part of the process within pharma and manufacturing – the future will be ‘AI-enabled’.
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