According to AstraZeneca’s CEO, AI is transforming drug development – and helping to increase the chances of success

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said artificial intelligence helps drugmakers develop drugs faster and make smarter decisions throughout the research process.

“The value of AI in our industry is increasing productivity,” Soriot said on CNBC’s “Mad Money” on Friday. “The way you develop a new medicine, a new drug, can actually make it faster and smarter.”

The comments come at a time when investors are increasingly questioning whether massive spending on artificial intelligence in industries such as healthcare is delivering meaningful returns. Soriot said AstraZeneca is already seeing practical applications in drug research and development, from identifying new targets to improving the design of potential drugs.

“You can find new targets, but you can also optimize your molecule.” [and] Remove what you think will be potential side effects from the molecule and AI will help you do that,” he said.

Soriot noted that AI is also helping the company make better decisions about which drugs to advance in the development process. He said the company, through its partnership with Tempus AI, is using AI models to analyze data with the aim of improving drug discovery and increasing the chances of success in late-stage trials.

“We have developed a compound that brings together all of this data – clinical data, laboratory data – and helps us predict the probability of success in a Phase 3 trial,” Soriot said.

The potential profit is significant.

“We spend $300 million, $400 million, $500 million on a trial,” Soriot said. “If you increase the probability of success, the increase in productivity is enormous.”

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