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Science

Drug designed by AI to enter human trials for first time

The first drug designed entirely using artificial intelligence is entering clinical human trials in what has been described as a major milestone in medicine.
The new compound, which has been designed for treating obsessive-compulsive disorder, was discovered using Oxford-based biotech company Exscientia's AI system.
Japan's Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma partnered with Exscientia to use the platform, which automatically analyses patients' genetic data and finds molecules that could be used in new medication.
To get a drug to this stage of development would normally take around four and a half years, but using the AI-tools, it took less than 12 months.