Artificial Intelligence for Quantitative Modeling in Drug Discovery and Development: An Innovation and Quality Consortium Perspective on Use Cases and Best Practices.

Journal: Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Published Date:

Abstract

Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have ushered in a new era of possibilities across various scientific domains. One area where these advancements hold significant promise is model-informed drug discovery and development (MID3). To foster a wider adoption and acceptance of these advanced algorithms, the Innovation and Quality (IQ) Consortium initiated the AI/ML working group in 2021 with the aim of promoting their acceptance among the broader scientific community as well as by regulatory agencies. By drawing insights from workshops organized by the working group and attended by key stakeholders across the biopharma industry, academia, and regulatory agencies, this white paper provides a perspective from the IQ Consortium. The range of applications covered in this white paper encompass the following thematic topics: (i) AI/ML-enabled Analytics for Pharmacometrics and Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) Workflows; (ii) Explainable Artificial Intelligence and its Applications in Disease Progression Modeling; (iii) Natural Language Processing (NLP) in Quantitative Pharmacology Modeling; and (iv) AI/ML Utilization in Drug Discovery. Additionally, the paper offers a set of best practices to ensure an effective and responsible use of AI, including considering the context of use, explainability and generalizability of models, and having human-in-the-loop. We believe that embracing the transformative power of AI in quantitative modeling while adopting a set of good practices can unlock new opportunities for innovation, increase efficiency, and ultimately bring benefits to patients.

Authors

  • Nadia Terranova
    Merck Institute for Pharmacometrics, Merck Serono S.A., Switzerland, a Subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. nadia.terranova@merckgroup.com.
  • Didier Renard
    Full Development Pharmacometrics, Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland.
  • Mohamed H Shahin
    Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer Inc., Groton, Connecticut, USA.
  • Sujatha Menon
    Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer Inc., Groton, Connecticut, USA.
  • Youfang Cao
    Clinical Pharmacology and Translational Medicine, Eisai Inc., Nutley, New Jersey, USA.
  • Cornelis E C A Hop
    Genentech, South San Francisco, CA, USA.
  • Sean Hayes
    Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Imaging, and Biomedical Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California.
  • Kumpal Madrasi
    Modeling & Simulation, Sanofi, Bridgewater, New Jersey, USA.
  • Sven Stodtmann
    Pharmacometrics, AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
  • Thomas Tensfeldt
    Clinical Pharmacology, Pfizer Inc., Groton, Connecticut, USA.
  • Pavan Vaddady
    Quantitative Clinical Pharmacology, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc., Basking Ridge, New Jersey, USA.
  • Nicholas Ellinwood
    Global PK/PD & Pharmacometrics, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
  • James Lu
    Modeling and Simulation/Clinical Pharmacology, Genentech, South San Francisco, CA.