Global AI in Drug Discovery Market Research Report, By Product Type (Software, Services), Molecule Type (Large Molecule, Small Molecule), Technology (Machine Learning, Deep Learning and others), Indication (Immune-Oncology, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Cardiovascular Diseases, Metabolic Diseases and others), Application (Target Identification, Candidate Screening, De novo Drug Designing, Drug Optimization and Repurposing and Preclinical Testing), End-User (Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies, Contract Research Organizations and Research Centers and Academic & Government Institutes), Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa) - Forecast till 2027

Market Forecast

Global AI in Drug Discovery Market is expected to hold a value of about USD 2,015.1 Million by 2025, and it is projected to register a CAGR of 40.8% from 2019 to 2025.

Market Synopsis

Artificial intelligence (AI) has captured the imagination and attention of medical industry professionals over the past couple of years as several companies, and large research hospitals have been working on perfecting these systems for clinical use. The first concrete examples of how AI (also called deep learning, machine learning, or artificial neural networks) will help clinicians are now being commercialized. These systems may offer a paradigm shift in clinician workflow to boost efficiency while improving care and patient throughput at the same time.

 Market Influencer

Integration of AI and machine learning tools in drug discovery & development applications could improve the healthcare outcome by increasing efficiency of drug discovery process, facilitating targeted molecule identification, minimizing the risk of adverse reactions during the trials, reducing the drug discovery timeframe, and most importantly reducing the cost of drug development for the drug manufacturer.

AI in Drug Discovery Market Drivers

• Market giants pouring huge investments into the AI business

Artificial intelligence in Healthcare is flourishing, and with unlimited opportunities provided by this advanced technology, the number of industry giants is taking an interest and pouring in money for the healthcare applications. IBM’s Watson, Google’s parent company Alphabet, and Philips are some of the tech giants who are investing in the AI for the healthcare sector. Apart from these, the number of pharmaceutical companies and a large number of startups all over the world are taking up initiatives and are involving themselves in the development of the AI & machine learning tools for the betterment of drug discovery and improvement in drug development outcomes.

• An increasing number of startups operating in the AI spectrum for healthcare including drug discovery

The integration of artificial intelligence for healthcare applications is relatively new, and the industry is currently at its early stage. As the AI poses tremendous potential in the healthcare sector, a large number of companies are getting involved in the development of AI-based solutions for the healthcare sector. As of February 2020, more than 200 startups are operating in AI verticals for healthcare. Among these, startups such as Cyclica (Canada), DeepMatter (UK), MAbSilico (France), Molecule.one (Poland), Molomics (Spain), and others are working on designing new drug molecules and drug targets.

• Machine learning and other AI technologies have the potential to make the discovery of new pharmaceuticals faster, cheaper, and more effective

• Increased use of AI technology by major pharma companies for drug discovery

• An increasing number of cross-industry partnerships for achieving a common goal of improvement in the drug development outcomes

AI in Drug Discovery Market Restraints

• The high cost of AI integration

• Lack of adequate infrastructure in low economic countries

AI in Drug Discovery Market Segmentation

By Product Type

• Software: Software, including AI platforms, developed based on machine learning and deep learning technologies are an integral part of the whole AI market. The software segment takes the largest share in the global market for AI in drug discovery. Some major AI platforms in the market are Microsoft Azure and Google AI. However, the number of small-scale companies are also developing their AI platforms, which are pushing the growth of this market at an exponential rate.

• Services: Services segment includes AI integration, deployment, and upgradation. Apart from providing a platform, some players such as BenevolentAI, and DeepMatter, among others, are constantly engaging with pharma players (AstraZeneca) to provide their services to improve the drug discovery outcomes.

By Molecule Type

• Large Molecule: This segment includes the drug candidates having a large and complex molecular structure such as biologic drugs. Growing demand for the life-saving drugs, and biologics, and increased usage of AI technology in analyzing complex molecular structures and drug discovery of biologics.

• Small Molecule: Small molecules being the less complex as compared to large molecules are expected to have less share in the AI in the drug discovery market.

By Technology

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   Machine Learning: Machine learning (ML) approaches provide a set of tools that can improve decision making for specified questions with abundant, high-quality data. The application of ML can promote data-driven decision making with the potential to speed up the process and reduce failure rates in drug discovery and development. This segment is projected to have a larger share.

   
   

• Deep Learning:

Deep Learning (DL) is another subset of AI, where models represent geometric transformations over many different layers. Deep learning technology utilizes a logic structure similar to the brain called neural ‘networks’ to recognize and discriminate patterns such as speech, image, and video. Deep learning has shown tremendous potential in drug discovery. It is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in AI in drug discovery market during the assessment period.

• Others:

Some of the other technologies in the market include natural language processing, expert systems, and robotics.

By Indication

• Immuno-oncology:

The immuno-oncology segment is expected to hold the largest share in the global market. AI technology is showing promising outcomes in differentiating genetic mutations for precision medicine. By evaluating and pinpointing genetic mutations, oncologists are better able to treat their patients. AI application in drug discovery for cancer drugs has tremendous potential, and the number of companies is using AI for drug discovery for cancer drugs. For instance, Novartis is working with Microsoft’s AI platform to identify new ways to treat the deadly disease.

• Neurodegenerative Diseases:

Neurodegenerative diseases are another important application of AI integration for drug discovery. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe neurodegenerative disease with no current treatment to slow the progression of the disease. BenevolentAI, an AI and machine learning start-up, is currently researching new therapies for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Neurodegenerative diseases segment is projected to grow at the fastest growth rate due to the increasing number of companies involved in the research for the same.

• Cardiovascular Diseases:

Cardiovascular disease affects the large population in the world, and the number of deaths due to cardiovascular disease is quite high. AI integration for drug discovery of cardiovascular disease drugs will help in formulating the drugs with high efficacy and low side effects. In January 2020, Bayer announced a collaboration with AI-driven company Exscientia to accelerate the discovery of small molecule drugs focused on cardiovascular diseases.

• Metabolic Diseases:

Metabolic diseases, another crucial health concern, where-in number of companies are making investments to discover novel drugs. For instance, in 2017, Sanofi and Exscientia signed a USD 273 million collaboration and license option deal to discover bispecific small-molecule drugs against metabolic diseases.

• Others:

The others segment includes indications such as gastrointestinal diseases, skin diseases, and other rare diseases.

By Application

• Target Identification:

Finding new targets is a tedious task in drug discovery, and it takes months and years with the conventional methodology. AI integration will improve this process, making it faster. Some of the companies working on this aspect of drug discovery are AI Therapeutics, Adagene, Alphanosos, Antiverse, and few others.

• Candidate Screening:

This segment is expected to take the largest share in the global AI in drug discovery market. Some of the companies working in this aspect of drug discovery are A2A Pharmaceuticals, Accutar, Acellera, SEngine Precision Medicine, and a few others.

• Drug Optimization and Repurposing:

Drug repurposing is finding novel applications of existing drugs in the market. Some of the companies operating in this aspect are BioXcel Therapeutics, Healx, and few others.

• De novo Drug Designing:

Drug designing is a critical process where one has to consider the polypharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and structural pharmacogenomics of molecules. The segment is the fourth largest segment in the market. Some of the companies operating in this aspect of drug discovery are Cyclica, DeepMatter, Fetch Biosciences, Molomics, and few others.

• Preclinical Testing:

There are two facets of this process, designing the preclinical tests and running them. Some of the companies operating in designing the preclinical tests are BenchSci and Desktop Genetics, where are companies like Arctoris, Emerald Cloud Lab, and Strateos few others are involved in running the preclinical tests.

By End-User

• Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies: Pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies are going to be most benefitted from the AI integration in the drug discovery. Drug innovators can significantly improve the efficiency of their drug discovery process and reduce the time of it with the use of AI. The pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies segment is projected to take up the largest market share in the global market during the assessment period of 2019 to 2025.

• Contract Research Organizations:

The contract research organization segment is expected to be the second-largest market in the global AI in the drug discovery market. AI integration is expected to reduce the drug discovery and development costs by a huge margin, which will benefit the service providers as well as the innovators.

• Research Centers and Academic & Government Institutes:

Understanding the 3D structure of the drug molecule and filtering the desired molecules is a crucial task in drug discovery. AI integration in the research is expected to help the researchers at ground level in understanding the structures better and improving the overall quality of academics and research.

By Region

• Americas: Countries such as the US and Canada have been at the forefront of the healthcare industry over the years. Increasing number of big AI platform developers present in the region is one of the major reasons for the rapid growth of the AI in drug discovery market in the region. Some of the top AI platforms, including Google AI, Microsoft Azure, and TensorFlow, are being adopted by the Big Pharma companies for use in the drug discovery process. In addition, increasing demand for Artificial Intelligence technologies from Big Pharma companies such as AbbVie, Genentech, Amgen, and Eli Lilly and Company, among others, is also driving the growth of the market. Moreover, increasing demand for new drugs in the Latin American region is also pushing the growth of the Americas in the AI in drug discovery market.


• Europe: Europe is the second largest market for AI in drug discovery after the Americas. Increasing R&D activities in the pharma sector and high demand for AI solutions by Big Pharma companies are some of the factors expected to boost the growth of the regional market. Top pharma companies have made partnerships with the AI service providers to integrate AI technologies into the drug discovery process. For instance, in April 2019, AstraZeneca partnered with BenevolentAI, which will focus on new drug identification for chronic kidney disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Also, back in August 2017, AstraZeneca collaborated with Berg to identify and evaluate novel targets and therapeutics to treat neurological disorders viz. Parkinson's disease. Moreover, AstraZeneca had also partnered with AI companies DeepMatter and Gatehouse Bio in December 2019. Besides this, the increasing number of startups such as Pharnext, Alphanosos, and Antiverse, among others, are also pushing the growth of the market in the European region.

• Asia-Pacific: The growth of the Asia-Pacific market can be attributed to the increasing demand for effective drug discovery solutions. A number of startups are working to integrate AI applications in drug discovery. Some of these startups are Mozi, Adagene, Xbiome, Accutar, Deep Intelligent Pharma, Elucidata Corporation, CaroCure, and Interprotein, among others. With the rapidly growing pharmaceutical market in the Asian region, it is expected that the adoption of the AI technologies in the mainstream drug discovery protocols will take place in the future. As a result, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to pose the highest growth rate in the AI in drug discovery market during the forecast period of 2019 to 2025.

• Middle East & Africa: It is the smallest market due to limited healthcare infrastructure, limited players working in the drug discovery and development, and low per capita disposable incomes in underdeveloped regions of Africa.

Key Players

• Microsoft Corporation


• IBM Corporation


• Google (A Subsidiary of Alphabet Inc.)


• Atomwise, Inc.


• Deep Genomics


• Cloud Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


• Insilico Medicine


• BenevolentAI


• Exscientia


• Cyclica


• Bioage


• Numerate


• Numedii, Inc.


• Envisagenics


• Twoxar, Incorporated


• Owkin, Inc.


• Xtalpi, Inc.


• Verge Genomics


• Berg LLC