Artificial intelligence (Al) is fast growing information technology industry. It is creating smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require the use of human intelligence. Although Al had some failures in the past, nowadays it is driving the digital transformation of many industries. As it had in the other industries, Al had and will have a major impact on the pharmaceutical industry. According to Narrative Science, 61% of companies investing in innovative strategies are using AI to identify their opportunities, which would probably be missed without this incredible discovery.

Al has been used for biochemical engineering, in silico studies, toxicological research and it will be used even more in the future. It is a very useful tool for research and development of drugs, because it saves time that is usually spent on technical things. Expert teams trained in chemistry, pharmacology and other life sciences can now focus more on crucial things. Al also provides visualization of abstract and makes it understandable for researchers. For example, in June 2017, Genentech announced a research partnership with GNS Healthcare to identify novel cancer drug targets using machine learning and AI platform and that was how the first commercially AI-driven tool was designed. A month later GlaxoSmithKline formed a collaboration with a company to explore how In silico’s AI capability can help in the identification of novel biological targets.

In addition, Al could be used as tool for sales and marketing teams. New programs and platforms can easily filter thousands of information, choose the right information among all, thus facilitating the decision making in pharmaceutical companies. One can use vast number of criteria as input data in order to create a model which provides the output data. For example, using different mathematical models can lead to calculating market parameters such as the overall market value for each product sold today and in the near future. That was how last year’s research collaboration between Pfizer and IBM’s Watson for Drug Discovery was aimed to bring the power of AI-driven supercomputer for accelerating analysis.

This could be especially valuable when a company is operating in a market where companies which provide intelligent data do not operate. Such is the Israeli market. No IMS data is available and sales are veiled with mystery. Having a tool, method or a strategy to project sales based on various data sources related to overall sales data in different region provides companies with market insight, supporting their decision making and strengthening their business strategies.  

Al has enormous potential in every field of pharmacy, and it can make industry faster, smarter and more efficient. The crucial thing in question is, have you started using AI in time, or is it to late to catch that train?