Better drugs through AI? Insitro CEO on what machine learning can teach Big Pharma Boston 25 News [Video]

WASHINGTON — (AP) — Artificial intelligence is changing the way companies do business — helping programmers write code and fielding customer service calls with chatbots.

But the pharmaceutical industry is still waiting to see whether AI can tackle its biggest challenge: finding faster, cheaper ways to develop new drugs.

Despite billions poured into research, new medicines still typically take a decade or more to develop.

Founded in 2018, Insitro is part of a growing field of AI companies promising to accelerate drug discovery by using machine learning to analyze huge datasets of chemical and biological markers. The South San Francisco-based company has signed deals with drugmakers like Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb to help develop medicines for metabolic diseases, neurological conditions and degenerative disorders.

CEO and founder Daphne Koller spoke with the AP about what AI brings to the challenges of drug discovery. The conversation has been edited for …