World’s Pharma Giants Bet on AI to Develop Drugs Faster

A woman browses outside a drugstore in Tokyo last year. Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals is one of the global drug giants using AI to make its processes more efficient. 

Photographer: Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg

Hi, it’s Kanoko in Tokyo. Businesses across the world are investing heavily in the use of artificial intelligence — and the pharmaceutical industry is no exception. But before we get to that...

A new drug typically takes $3 billion and more than a decade to discover and develop, and 90% of experimental medicines fail in the process. AI and machine-learning algorithms could slash those costs and timeframes by sorting through and evaluating candidates.