A drug molecule "invented" by artificial intelligence (AI) will be used in human trials in a world-first for machine learning in medicine.

The drug was created by British start-up Exscientia and Japanese pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma. The drug will be used to treat patients who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Typically, drug development takes about five years to get to trial, but the AI drug took just 12 months.

The molecule - known as DSP-1181 - was created by using algorithms that sifted through potential compounds, checking them against a huge database of parameters.

CEO of Exscienta  Professor Andrew Hopkins called it a "major step in the development of drugs. It is necessary to find the right molecules for the precise preparation of the drug. This drug can be applied to any disease, he noted.

The first drug will enter phase one trials in Japan which, if successful, will be followed by more global tests, “BBC News” reports. The firm is already working on potential drugs for the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease and hopes to have another molecule ready for clinical trials by the end of the year.

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