Two startups harnessing AI to facilitate drug development  — insitro and Exscientia —  announced large funding raises this week, nabbing $143 million and $60 million, respectively.

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Here’s a snapshot of how each startup is using AI to improve the drug discovery process:

• insitro uses its platform to analyze genetic and clinical data to discover new contenders for drug treatments — and it plans to put the fresh cash toward further developing its AI tech. The San Francisco-based biotech is different from most AI firms in that it produces its own vast amounts of data to train its machine learning technology, rather than leaning on existing data sets that could result in poorly trained platforms, per Forbes. It’s already attracting attention from major drug makers: It inked a $15 million deal with Gilead last year to mobilize its AI platform for liver disease drug discovery — but it plans on eventually disrupting the pharma space by becoming its own functioning pharma company. The firm plans to put some of the funding toward building up its tech capabilities to develop drugs, including hiring regulatory experts and other talent with drug development expertise, per Forbes.
• Exscientia’s platform uses AI to automate drug discovery and help design novel drug molecules — and it plans on expanding its pipeline and global footprint with its new funding. The UK-based firm facilitates drug discovery by applying its AI to published literature to identify drug targets. It entered its first drug — a treatment for OCD — into clinical trials last year and has landed partnerships with companies like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Bayer, and Scripps Research, for example. The firm plans to use the funding haul in part to launch new research projects and build out its presence in the US market.

We expect pharma companies to increasingly eye tie ups with AI-focused startups as they race to develop treatments for the coronavirus — but drug makers may not see a quick return on their investments.  The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a great deal of activity among pharmaceutical companiesas they race to release a coronavirus vaccine.

And we’ve already seen AI firms leverage their drug discovery platforms to uncover therapies to help accelerate treatment efforts. Although VCs’ investments in nonessential tech services may drop off amid the pandemic-induced recession, we think that startups leveraging AI to rapidly analyze and sift through clinical data will continue to attract attention from investors — especially since a coronavirus vaccine has yet to reach the public: AI platforms like the ones used by insitro and Exscientia could help pharma companies speed up the drug development process by better determining and analyzing patterns in clinical data.

For context, it usually costs pharmaceutical companies an average of $2.6 billion to bring a single drug to market — with clinical trials running up to seven years in length. But implementing a novel tech to facilitate the already lengthy R&D process means drug makers could face an adjustment period that draws the process out even further.

So, while we think AI has the power to accelerate R&D, it will take significant time for pharma companies to fully integrate these platforms into their R&D practices — and drug makers may need to prepare for a delay in ROI with their AI-focused investments as they become accustomed to using novel tech to facilitate the drug discovery process.

Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-drug-discovery-firms-insitro-exscientia-bag-200-million-2020-5