10.24.2019

6 AMAZING WAYS THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY IS LEVERAGING AI IN 2019


6 Amazing Ways The Biotech Industry Is 
Leveraging Artificial Intelligence In 2019

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are becoming fixtures in the world of tech startups. In fact, with both of these tools at your disposal, you can easily enter the tech industry and build from there. However, AI and ML are also beginning to show up as useful tools in the biotech industry.

Partnerships are forming these days between Big Pharma companies and biotech startups that have incorporated AI and ML. These joint ventures have already proven to be successful in many different fronts. But how exactly can the biotech industry benefit from the use of AI?

Here is a look at the top benefits to come from the use of this tool to date:

1 – Drug Discovery

There is no doubt that the most exciting connection to come from biotech and AI is in the field of drug discovery. The main reason for this is that AI makes some of the drug discoveries possible at a fraction of the cost of developing and researching the same item by traditional means. Because current drug discovery economics are unsustainable, AI and ML change the playing field drastically.

When you consider that traditional drug discovery costs can average well over $2.5-billion and that the trials necessary for a single drug amount to 12 years, it is easy to see how AI can cut costs. The easier solutions have all been found so now the more difficult discoveries are coming to the forefront and these are the ones that cost so much in today’s marketplace.

2 – Lab Assistants

Tasks that were typically handled by lab assistants are slowly being handed over to AI. They include such activities as data analysis and gene editing constructs. Where AI has proven to be most valuable in this application is primarily related to time and efficiency. For quicker and more efficient work, AI wins the comparison to human's hands down.

According to Healthcare Weekly, this is of particular note with the ability of AI to generate more data in a much tighter timeframe, it only makes sense that the biotech industry adopts programs that employ AI. With computers that can conduct and analyze experiments in the artificial intelligence arena, cost savings are significant and data collection is more efficient.

3 – Diagnostics

In the present day, diagnostic assays don’t normally get updated unless there has been a significant paradigm shift. This means that they are developed once and improvements are minimal. With AI introduced into this area of biotech, the results collected as data from results can be used immediately to improve the diagnostic tests and the more accurate they become.

Genetic analysis is where AI has made a significant impact to date. For example, data analysis can take several months in traditional settings but with new artificial intelligence platforms, the same work can be completed in a matter of days. With ML behind the AI in this instance, the diagnostic process becomes smarter as each test is run and analyzed.

4 – Drug Targeting

Biotech has found a novel way to make use of AI in addition to all the practical benefits noted above. Something called drug targeting has been around for a long time but with the ability of ML and AI to retain information, even slight variations of information, potential drug targets can be identified. This is meant for use with existing and newly developing drugs.

Essentially, with AI scientists can process data that can find and complete novel connections between disease and potential drug targets. In other words, drugs that we currently use to combat one type of disease may also be useful in fighting the symptoms of some other disease when combined with a new, currently under development drug or medication.

5 – Enhancing Patient Experience

Probably one of the most amazing ways that biotech is leveraging artificial intelligence is in the way it enhances patient data and experience. Using a patient's clinical history and personal preferences, AI can assist doctors in providing more personalized treatment to that patient. At the very least, the technology will provide for informed clinical decisions to be made.

The positive effects of AI in dealing with patients go far beyond this as well. The ability to store and process so much information with AI lends itself to effectively managing patient records and related data. With the ability to better store and offer improved access to that information to doctors will result in better patient care than has been experienced to date.

6 – Streamlines Everything

One of the most underrated benefits to AI and ML in biotech is how it has improved how the industry operates. With faster data collection, more efficient data being collected and how machine learning can use that data to improve anything from clinical research to make better decisions during the diagnostic phase, AI is making an impact.

Scientists now have reliable means to work with as partners, to collect information and speed up the path taken to find new or improved ways of helping us to fight disease. AI has proven to be a vital tool in the biotech industry and we are only just seeing the beginning of a very long partnership. Streamlining systems make them perform better and more effectively and lead to the development of newer systems.

In Conclusion

As we all continue to live longer, it is important to have a strong healthcare system. Building the foundation of that system is biotechnology. It is a field where artificial intelligence has become an active partner and it has been proven time and time again that AI is assisting biotech in ways that were only imagined years ago.

According to Digital Authority Partners, the positives far outweigh the negatives related to AI when you see the many useful applications of it in biotech. And quite honestly, the future looks bright as a result of this partnership. Expect to see AI in many more ways and used to improve other aspects of the biotech industry in the years to come.

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