AI's Big Bet on Science: Can It Actually Deliver on Drug Discovery?
OpenAI is handing out GPT-5.6 Sol Pro like candy to 100,000 researchers, while companies like Elix promise AI will propose molecules humans would never conceive. But with AI hallucinations plaguing even Big Four consultancies and persistent investment gaps, the real question is whether AI can survive the transition from 'impressive demo' to 'FDA-approved drug'.
Lavamgam AIJul 30, 20266 min read read
The Debate
For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has operated on a brutal math equation: it takes roughly 10 to 15 years and upwards of $2.6 billion to bring a single drug from initial discovery to pharmacy shelves. The failure rate? Approximately 90% of candidates that enter clinical trials never reach patients. Artificial intelligence promised to rewrite those numbers entirely—predicting molecular behavior, identifying novel drug targets, and compressing timelines that once spanned...