Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Biotech Drug Discovery and Product Development.

Journal: MedComm
Published Date:

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing biotechnology by transforming the landscape of therapeutic development. Traditional drug discovery faces persistent challenges, including high attrition rates, billion-dollar costs, and timelines exceeding a decade. Recent advances in AI-particularly generative models such as generative adversarial networks, variational autoencoders, and diffusion models-have introduced data-driven, iterative workflows that dramatically accelerate and enhance pharmaceutical R&D. However, a comprehensive synthesis of how AI technologies reshape each key modality of drug discovery remains lacking. This review systematically examines AI-enabled breakthroughs across four major therapeutic platforms: small-molecule drug design, protein binder discovery, antibody engineering, and nanoparticle-based delivery systems. It highlights AI's ability to achieve >75% hit validation in virtual screening, design protein binders with sub-Ångström structural fidelity, enhancing antibody binding affinity to the picomolar range, and optimize nanoparticles to achieve over 85% functionalization efficiency. We further discuss the integration of high-throughput experimentation, closed-loop validation, and AI-guided optimization in expanding the druggable proteome and enabling precision medicine. By consolidating cross-domain advances, this review provides a roadmap for leveraging machine learning to overcome current biopharmaceutical bottlenecks and accelerate next-generation therapeutic innovation.

Authors

  • Yuan-Tao Liu
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Le-Le Zhang
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Zi-Ying Jiang
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Xian-Shu Tian
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Peng-Lin Li
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Pei-Huang Wu
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Wen-Ting Du
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Bo-Yu Yuan
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Chu Xie
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Guo-Long Bu
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Lan-Yi Zhong
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Yan-Lin Yang
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Ting Li
    Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Mu-Sheng Zeng
    State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China Guangdong Provincial Clinical Research Center for Cancer Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou China.
  • Cong Sun
    School of Computer Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China.

Keywords

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