Predicting Toxicity of New Drug Candidates Using AI

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety AI Utilization Toxicity Prediction Research Promotion System

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 21st that it will promote the development of toxicity prediction technology using big data-based artificial intelligence (AI). A research fund of 7.5 billion KRW will be invested over the next three years.

AI technology is used to evaluate safety in the process of discovering new substances such as new drugs or new food ingredients. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety expects that once this technology is commercialized, it will be possible to predict the toxicity of substances more easily and quickly, shortening the development period by 3 to 4 years and drastically reducing costs.

Led by Professor Kim Hyung-sik’s team at Sungkyunkwan University, advanced toxicity prediction evaluation technology will be developed, and the research team led by Jo Jae-woo at the Safety Evaluation Research Institute will undertake research to establish a next-generation toxicity pathology diagnostic platform. They will receive support of 4.5 billion KRW and 3 billion KRW respectively. The research involves predicting toxicity by examining whether the chemical structure of substances or changes in genes and proteins in the body are similar, and determining toxicity in experimental animal organs based on image data using AI technology.

It is expected to be used in various fields such as pharmaceuticals including new drugs and vaccines, food using new ingredients, and environmental hazardous substances. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety explained, "Although the United States and Europe have been promoting toxicity prediction research using AI for several years, it has mainly been limited to medical technology and clinical trials, and toxicity prediction technology like this research has not been developed."

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