The Future of Drug Discovery Is More Shots on Goal

"Discovering new products outright and bringing them to market using AI is not yet possible."

Johnson & Johnson says it has cut the time to generate new drug leads in half using artificial intelligence according to a Reuters report.

The New Jersey pharmaceutical company is using the technology to screen what CIO Jim Swanson calls the "potential universe" of chemical compounds and biologics, accelerating the optimization phase of early research.

But J&J is not shortening drug discovery. It is increasing the number of attempts.

Drug development remains a decade-long process with staggering attrition. Only about 12% of drugs entering clinical trials are ultimately approved by the FDA. From preclinical research through FDA approval, the median cost per drug has reached $985 million, with capitalized costs often exceeding $1.8 billion. The clinical phase alone consumes 95 months on average and accounts for 69% of overall R&D spending.