"Artificial intelligence (AI) can shorten the time it takes to develop new drugs."
Ai Ching Lim, vice president of research at global drugmaker Amgen, said this on the 28th at Bio Korea 2026, held at Coex in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in a presentation titled "AI-based open innovation and new drug development."
Global pharmaceutical companies are jumping into AI-driven new drug development. In the past, developing a new drug took more than 10 years, but AI shortens this to two to three years. Industry officials said that properly leveraging AI can raise the probability of success in new drug development.
Lim said, "In the process of developing new drugs, 85% of clinical trials experience schedule delays," adding, "It is because the institutions conducting the trials are slow to recruit and enroll patients."
She added, "With AI, we can predict which institutions recruit patients well," and said, "For example, if we identify an institution where patients enroll 2.4 times faster than average, we can alleviate bottlenecks that arise when developing new drugs by conducting trials at that institution."
She said, "Beyond that, AI helps at every stage from discovering new drug candidates to development, various approvals, and commercialization," adding, "Ultimately, it enables the creation of better new drugs for patients."
AI can also be used to diagnose diseases. A representative case is the early diagnosis of lung disease by analyzing chest X-rays with AI.
Nick Passey, head of IT at AstraZeneca, said, "There was a case where we signed a business agreement with the Korean National Tuberculosis Association and Maihub to conduct AI chest X-ray screenings." This involved operating buses capable of AI chest X-ray imaging across local communities so residents could detect lung diseases.
He said, "AI can analyze and read chest X-rays," adding, "Patients can check the status of their lung health in real time."
He added, "Although Korea is seeing an increase in various diseases due to aging, there is a medical gap between Seoul and non-capital regions," explaining that "it is meaningful that AI contributed to improving infrastructure so people in areas with low medical accessibility could receive appropriate treatment."
PushKar Ghanekar, AI senior director at Eli Lilly and Company, also said, "AI helps integrate and manage data and quickly find the materials you want."