The pace at which companies are integrating the sophisticated tools of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into their early stage drug discovery and development programs is accelerating, as evidenced by the creation of new dedicated AI-focused biopharma companies and the eagerness of drug developers to partner with AI firms. A panel at the BIO Investment Forum delved into the impact of AI on the sector and its ability to assist scientists in uncovering the intricacies of disease mechanisms and lead them toward novel drug targets.

Investors appear to be maintaining a bullish outlook on biopharma companies developing innovative medicines, with the BioWorld Drug Developers index currently tracking up over 5% in value so far this month heading into third-quarter earnings season.

COVID-19 continues to dominate biopharma nonprofit collaborations and grants in 2020, with the pandemic accounting for 85% of projected values reported this year, most of which have posted since the start of July.

Even though the appetite for biopharma IPOs this year has been voracious with no signs of a slowdown anytime soon, companies also have a potentially faster route to the public market using special purpose acquisition companies (SPAC) that raise money through an IPO in order to take a company public through an acquisition.

In July a major initiative of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, designed to combat the rising tide of antimicrobial resistance and accelerate the pace at which new antibiotics are discovered and brought to market, was announced. The $1 billion AMR Action Fund, supported by 23 pharma companies, was created “because there was a clear realization that we have no time to spare to address the lack of innovation in this area,” said Martin Bott, interim general manager of the fund, who described the progress being made with the fund in a fireside chat at this week’s virtual BIO Investor Forum.