ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN DRUG DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT TRANSFORMING MODERN PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH

Abstract

Background: The pharmaceutical industry is increasingly leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance drug discovery and development processes. Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is quickly revolutionizing pharmaceutical research by streamlining drug development and discovery. AI-driven drug discovery offers advanced predictions, molecular design, and data-driven decision-making, with high efficacy and fewer failures, compared to the traditional process, which is time-consuming and expensive.

Aim: This study was conducted to assess the applications, development and advancement of AI, challenges faced and future opportunities in drug discovery and development in the current scenario.

Method: A systematic literature review was carried out, based on the PRISMA 2020 framework. Studies published between 2021 and 2026 were searched for, using the databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase. Twenty-five articles were selected for qualitative synthesis following screening and eligibility criteria.

Results: The results showed that AI played a major role in various aspects of target identification, protein structure prediction, molecular generation, virtual screening, and antimicrobial discovery, drug repurposing and early clinical translation. With the help of generative AI and deep learning models, compound optimization was enhanced and promising therapeutic candidates were identified quicker. There were still data quality, model interpretability, model validation and regulatory acceptance concerns, however.

Conclusion: AI is versatile and a great tool to speed up the process of drug discovery. While it cannot be a substitute for experimental & clinical validation, AI complements the biological research, and can help to discover safer and effective drugs.