Artificial intelligence accelerates drug discovery and reduces animal testing

1. Artificial intelligence is cutting preclinical development timelines from more than three years to under two years. 2. The Food and Drug Administration now supports validated computational models as part of regulatory submissions. On September 2, Reuters reported that the United States Food and Drug Administration is promoting artificial intelligence platforms that simulate drug safety and efficacy. Historically, preclinical testing averaged 42 months, but new in-silico methods have produced first-in-human candidates in 18 months. This represents a reduction of more than 50 percent in development time, which in a field where each new drug costs over two billion dollars is a striking shift. Some contract research organizations already earn more than 200 million dollars a year from non-animal models, showing that adoption is growing rapidly. Methods include computational absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion models alongside toxicity predictions. Regulators continue to require human trials but now accept validated computational packages as part of the dossier. That flexibility could reduce animal testing significantly, addressing ethical concerns while accelerating progress. For oncology programs in particular, moving candidates into patients sooner may improve survival by bringing novel mechanisms forward. Rare-disease groups are also watching closely, since smaller populations often cannot sustain long, expensive preclinical phases. Physicians may benefit from a broader pipeline of experimental therapies reaching phase 1 studies. Economically, faster development can allow more “shots on goal,” increasing the probability that at least some programs succeed. If scaled, artificial intelligence could change not only speed but also diversity of the therapeutic landscape. Image: PD