‘AI lowers the capital needed’: India’s drug discovery push faces test of human trials
Indian scientists and biopharmaceutical firms are using artificial intelligence to identify promising drug candidates faster and at lower cost. But industry experts tell CNA the technology can address only part of a lengthy and risky development process.
Indian scientists and biopharmaceutical firms are leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate drug discovery, reducing both cost and time. However, industry experts caution that AI can only address part of the lengthy and risky drug development process. At Peptris, an Indian drug discovery startup, a team of about a dozen people uses AI to simultaneously work on more than a dozen potential drug programs.
One of their programs advanced to a late preclinical stage in roughly 18 months, a significant reduction from over four years using traditional methods.
This rapid development could signal a major shift in India's pharmaceutical sector, enabling the country to move beyond its traditional strengths of generics, manufacturing, and contract research for international firms. During the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's role as the supplier of one in every five generic medicines used globally.
While the government is investing in drug discovery efforts, with a recent allocation of 16 billion rupees (US$168 million) for 41 research projects, AI can only make drug development cheaper and faster by identifying promising compounds earlier. However, a key challenge remains in turning promising science into medicines through building the necessary infrastructure for preclinical and clinical trials.
Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of US-based pharma giant Moderna, emphasized that establishing preclinical and clinical capabilities on a larger scale is more crucial than merely employing AI.
The significance of AI in drug discovery extends beyond India's pharmaceutical exports, which grew by 2.1% to about US$31 billion in the financial year ending March 2026. Non-communicable diseases, responsible for 49% of deaths in India in 2021, impose a substantial financial burden, with households in India paying 43.4% of the country's total health expenditure out-of-pocket in the 2022-23 financial year.
Written by urgent.news from Channel News Asia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
