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HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 21 Bioscience: Harnessing AI for drug development By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo msullo@hartfordbusiness.com S everal Connecticut biotech companies are leveraging artificial intelligence to develop new treatments for ailments — from cancer to agitation. Jodie Gillon, president and CEO of BioCT, a statewide bioscience industry group, said AI has become crucial to the development of new pharmaceuticals. "My personal senti- ment is we can no longer develop drugs efficiently without AI now that we know how to harness it," said Gillon, who has worked at companies such as Pfizer and AstraZeneca. "Companies that aren't leveraging AI throughout their continuum of work are going to be slower, less efficient and less appealing to investors, and will be losing out." AI can help with evaluating mole- cules, figuring out what treatments they would be effective for, and clin- ical trial recruitment and enrollment, Gillon said. Getting the necessary steps done to bring a drug to market in a faster and less expensive way is ultimately "the whole lifeline of a company," Gillon added. Guilford-based AI Therapeutics is using AI to understand relationships between drugs and diseases to drive its clinical pipeline, according to Chief Technology Officer Brad Parry. CEO Brigette Roberts said the company is focused on three therapeutic areas: neuroscience, respiratory ailments and oncology. The company is developing potential treatments for ailments such as Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS), pulmonary arterial hypertension and various cancers, among others. "There's a lot of work that's going on in AI that's helping academics and others understand how genetic pathways work and how diseases work," Parry said. AI is also helping researchers and companies better understand the potential impact of a drug as it relates to specific diseases, he said. AI can help connect disease and poten- tial treatments, whittling down the number of candidates for biopharma- ceutical companies to pursue. It can also help identify new uses for existing therapeutics. "AI is going to allow us to enter disease markets that have huge unmet needs," Parry said. Sitting on the sidelines New Haven-based biopharmaceu- tical company BioXcel Therapeutics Inc. uses artificial intelligence to develop medicines in neuroscience and immuno-oncology. Using that method, BioXcel has brought to market the drug Igalmi, a film dissolved under the tongue to treat agitation related to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The company is currently developing treatments for agitation in individuals with Alzheimer's disease. Frank Yocca, chief scientific officer at BioXcel, said AI can help get a drug or treatment to patients faster. BioXcel uses AI to evaluate late-stage drugs that have proven to be safe, but weren't effective in treating a particular disease, to determine if they have other uses. "We use our extensive AI talent to dig into those types of drugs and see if we can't redirect them to a different (disease)," Yocca said. "It's a drug just sitting on the sideline — and there are many." Drugs that have made it to phase two clinical trials but not to market could be valued at up to $150 million, according to Yocca. He estimates there could be 1,000 to 2,000 drugs in this category, which can potentially be repurposed. While big pharmaceutical companies may lose interest in drugs that failed to make it to market, bioscience companies like BioXcel see potential, Yocca said. "We try to see if we can redirect this molecule into a different space," Yocca said. By doing so, the company can skip early discovery and safety stages of drug development, saving money. Talent pipeline Dr. Jens Rueter, chief medical officer for The Jackson Laboratory, which has a Farmington campus, said the genomic research institute uses AI for big data analysis and healthcare research. Its research teams focus on a variety of areas, such as cancer, immunology and autoimmune diseases, neurosci- ence and neurode- generative diseases, life cycle biology and the microbiome. AI and machine learning can help the medical commu- nity identify the most relevant treat- ment options for patients. "I think (AI) can play a significant role (in the future of health care)," Rueter said. "Especially in areas where you have a lot of data that's being utilized to perform a single decision. I think that's where AI is going to come in handy." For complicated diseases such as cancer, with complex genetics, using AI has significant potential, notes Rueter. As the use of AI continues to grow, Gillon foresees bioscience companies having difficulty finding workers who have this training. "I think the challenge is going to be having enough talent in this space and recruiting them to Connecticut," Gillon said. "Finding top-rated, machine- learning scientists, they're a needle in a haystack now. We have to be able to lure them to Connecticut in droves. From BioCT's perspective, that is going to be where we're focused." to where they are needed, while factoring in preferred shifts and vacations. AI can finish a scheduling task within minutes, while it would have taken a human several hours, Stein said. Bristol Health CEO and President Kurt Barwis said many insurance companies now use AI to trigger payment denials for healthcare claims. Dr. Joseph Schindler demonstrates how artificial intelligence can be used in real-time while a patient is having a stroke to locate a blockage and assess treatment options. HBJ PHOTO | BILL MORGAN Kurt Barwis Markus Waite Brad Parry Jodie Gillon Bristol Health is investigating how it can use artificial intelligence to combat this, as AI can write appeal letters in seconds. The technology could potentially mean more insur- ance money for the health system. It would also free up time for staff to spend on other tasks, he said. Goodroot is a Canton-based parent company to numerous healthcare technology firms, including Penstock. Insurance companies employ Penstock to help evaluate healthcare claims and ensure billing accuracy. Markus Waite, Goodroot's chief infor- mation officer, said as more medical providers use AI to capture their notes, Goodroot's family of companies are seeing higher-quality medical records. The company is exploring AI's use to comb through records and highlight areas of concern for further review, such as if there are improper codes on forms. "We are being very cautious. We want to make sure that our compa- nies don't rely on the AI results as a crutch, or as the record of truth," Waite said. "We're making sure it's just to use and highlight areas that they may need to look at, but not to make a decision." Challenges, words of caution Several healthcare industry leaders said human interpretation of what- ever artificial intelligence presents is important. Computers may be able to answer questions, but they are still basing their conclusions on information they've been given. If false infor- mation has been provided, AI may respond with answers that seem true, but aren't, cautions Stein. "If people start acting on (bad information), quality and safety can be compromised," Stein said. Education about AI is key for clinicians, as most don't learn about it in medical school or during early career training, notes Stein. Hartford HealthCare is focused on ensuring its physicians are well-trained on AI, and know how to recognize problems with the technology. When AI identifies a potential problem area, such as during an examination, human involvement is still key, according to Yale's Schwamm. Michael Urban, senior lecturer and director of the University of New Haven's doctor of occupa- tional therapy program, said he believes AI will lead to better quality of care, but also urges caution. "AI doesn't know everything, and a trained provider needs to be making sure the best decision is made," Urban said. Brigette Roberts Frank Yocca Jens Rueter AI IN CT