Antibiotic odyssey

PowellGilbert’s Rajvinder Jagdev, Peter FitzPatrick and Penny Gilbert explore how AI can be harnessed tounearth new therapies

Rajvinder Jagdev, Peter FitzPatrick and PennyGilbert, Powell Gilbert

It isestimated to cost roughly $2.5bn and take around 10 years to bring a newpharmaceutical product to market, and only one in 10 drugs that enter Phase 1clinical trials actually proceed to commercial launch. It is no surprise that thepharmaceutical industry has invested heavily in technology to assist in thedevelopment process. Computer-aided molecular design and high-frequencysampling have already revolutionised the drug development process, andartificial intelligence (AI) promises to do the same again. So, what are theimplications for the patentability of new therapies discovered using AI?