Faster, cheaper, better: How China and AI are helping pharmaceutical development

The process of discovering and developing a new drug typically costs $2-4 billion, takes 10-12 years and fails more than 95% of the time either in clinical trials or while going through the approval process. Around half of failures are due to side effects in humans, sometimes discovered after a drug has been fully approved and goes into mainstream use.

Companies around the world with a Chinese connection, however, are using AI to speed up drug development and solve many of the traditional problems the industry has faced.

From quantum physics-based algorithms to miniature cloned hearts, AI is changing drug development by finding new ways to tackle illnesses and then accelerating drug formulation and testing. China will be key to the future of pharmaceuticals, not just for its growing economic might and oceans of data, but its genetic population.

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