Insilico Medicine, a biotechnology company based in Hong Kong, has initiated a 12-week Phase 2 clinical trial for the first-ever drug created by artificial intelligence, INS018_055 targeting idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a type of chronic lung disease.

The drug, taken orally, underwent the same testing for safety and efficacy as traditionally discovered drugs, as per Insilico Medicine's CEO Alex Zhavoronkov.

The process for a new drug includes finding a disease-causing biological mechanism (target), creating a drug to block disease progression, conducting studies in animals and humans, and gaining regulatory approval.

Artificial intelligence aids in analyzing large data volumes, finding connections overlooked by humans, and envisioning new molecules that can be made into drugs.

Insilico used AI to identify a new IPF target and create a new molecule to interact with that target.

The company used PandaOmics to identify disease-causing targets and Chemistry42 to design new molecules.

The selected molecule, INS018_055, was chosen due to its promising activity.

Following a successful Phase 2a study, the drug will move to Phase 2b with a larger participant group.

The report notes that recruiting patients is a significant challenge in these trials, but the research team remains optimistic about bringing the drug to the market within the next few years.