An AI-developed drug for the treatment of Parkinson's disease has been admitted to clinical trials

The biotech company Insilico Medicine makes extensive use of artificial intelligence in the field of drug development. The company's portfolio already includes 10 developments that have been approved by the FDA for clinical trials. Implementation of the Pharma.AI significantly accelerated the passage of the preclinical trials. Usually, the average duration of preclinical trials is 2-3 years, while with the introduction of AI, the duration of preclinical trials has been reduced to 14 months.

The jubilee development of Insilico Medicine is the ISM8969 molecule, which blocks NLRP3 innate immunity proteins. Their excessive activity triggers the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines that cause chronic inflammation and destruction of nerve cells. This is how various neurodegenerative pathologies develop, from Alzheimer's disease to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 

When NLRP3 triggers the death of dopaminergic neurons, there is a lack of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates motor functions. This leads to Parkinson's disease: tremors, stiffness in the muscles, slowness of movement and impaired coordination appear. Modern remedies against it are aimed at replenishing dopamine deficiency, which only helps to reduce the severity of Parkinsonism. 

ISM8969 has proven its effectiveness in mice, slowing the progression of parkinsonism and improving their motor functions. 

Currently, Phase I clinical trials are starting for this development, in which the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of the experimental molecule will be evaluated. After the completion of this phase of the study, the development rights will be transferred to Chinese Hygtia Therapeutics. 

The use of machine technologies for drug development purposes is no longer an experimental solution, but a routine practice. In addition to modeling molecules, AI solutions perfectly cope with many tasks of organizing clinical trials: they automatically check the compliance of volunteers for AI, review the design of studies in real time, and prepare preliminary versions of documents for submission to regulatory authorities on hundreds of pages in a matter of hours. Analysts point not only to a reduction in the time required to complete individual tasks, but also to a reduction in the number of errors in documents.