Hong KongInitially, a drug discovered and designed using artificial intelligence (AI) for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a chronic disease that causes scarring of the lungs, has entered human clinical trials.
Hong Kong-based biotech company Insilic medicine, in a statement, announced that the Phase II oral dosing trial of INS018_055 is currently running for more than 12 weeks in China, and will then be expanded to test 60 people in the US and China. Once successful, the company aims to study a larger cohort. “With demonstrated potential against fibrosis and inflammation, INS018_055 could offer another option for patients around the world,” he said. feng ren, co-CEO and chief scientific officer of Insilico Medicine, in the statement. “Initiating phase II trials with this new IPF inhibitor represents an important milestone for deep generative reinforcement learning in drug discovery. We will explore the efficacy for patients of AI-discovered and designed treatments in clinical trials, thereby which is a true validation of our generative development.” AI platform,” added Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and co-CEO of Insilico Medicine. Zhavoronkov said the new drug discovery process began in 2020, hoping to create an “incredible” drug to overcome the challenges of current treatments for the condition, which are primarily focused on slowing the progression and can cause uncomfortable side effects, CNBC reported.
He added that the company has two other drugs partially generated by AI in the clinical stage.
One is a Covid-19 drug in phase one clinical trials, and the other is an anticancer drug, specifically a “USP1 inhibitor for the treatment of solid tumors,” which recently received FDA approval to start clinical trials. Zhavoronkov said he hopes to have the results of the current Phase II trial next year. IPF affects the tissue that surrounds the air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs. It develops when that lung tissue becomes thick and stiff for unknown reasons. Over time, these changes can cause permanent scarring in the lungs, called fibrosis, which makes it increasingly difficult to breathe. The condition worsens with age and, if left untreated, can lead to death within two to five years. –IANOS
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