We continue our series devoted to the challenges developed in our latest Integrated Annual Report (see below). After challenge of innovation, let’s take a look at research and artificial intelligence (AI).
Health care is one of the areas in which the AI revolution will have the greatest impact, making it possible to exploit massive volumes of data and wield more computational power than ever before. And the revolution is only just beginning.
In 2020, researchers from MIT and Harvard discovered a new antibiotic molecule capable of killing strains of bacteria resistant to traditional antibiotics. This long-awaited major breakthrough was made possible using an artificial intelligence.
Patrimony, Servier’s very own AI platform
Used in the exploratory phase, the Patrimony platform launched in 2018 helps researchers identify key drug targets for the pathologies on which we work. Patrimony achieved its first success as part of a study profiling patients with various autoimmune diseases, identifying and ranking several innovative drug targets. This led onto a medicine development project in 2021.
Benefits across the entire value chain
Developing new medicines is a long, costly and complex process, with a high rate of attrition for drug candidates. By combining computer simulation (known as in silico in reference to the silicon in computer chips) and AI with lab-based trials (called in vitro and in vivo), scientists are able to identify drug targets and optimize therapeutic modalities (small molecules, antibodies, and antisense oligonucleotides). Moreover, medicines can now be tested on virtual patients or digital twins. As such, the technology helps to develop precision medicine and effectively treat all sorts of chronic illnesses by taking into account the specific situation of each patient, such as their physiology, their illness and their environment. The processing power of AI technology and its capability to analyze data from clinical trials, biological data and chemical data is helping to revolutionize the entire medicine life cycle—from design, through to production and distribution.
AI helping to develop new precision treatments
Servier teamed up with Owkin, a French-American biotech specialized in applied AI to discover and develop new medicines and diagnostic tools. This partnership uses AI to drive progress and rapidly bring about more targeted treatments in multiple therapeutic areas, especially oncology.
New medicines can be discovered and obtain market authorization more rapidly, and treatment can be more personalized. A considerable step forward for patients!
3rd
Servier is the 3rd most innovative oncology company in France1
Putting people at the heart of research
AI serves to augment researchers’ working capacity by completing tasks and calculations that were impossible up until now. Researchers and doctors steer the AI. They leverage their understanding of the scientific and social context to approve the data, ensure the relevance and overall consistency of the results obtained. This revolution also makes it possible for the pharmaceutical industry to bring in new talent with different profiles and skills combining scientific and technological expertise, thereby amplifying the research capacity of the pharmaceutical industry.
View from the field: “Our Gemini digital twins open the door to revolutionary discoveries in oncology.”
Meet Colin Hill / CEO co-founder of Aitia, a leading US biotech company in the field of AI-based biotechnologies.
“Through our Gemini Digital Twins, combining the wealth of multi-omic patient data and the power of causal artificial intelligence, our ambition is to discover breakthrough therapeutic solutions, much faster than before. This technology paves the way for revolutionary discoveries, which will enable us to unravel the hidden biological mechanisms of diseases and accelerate the discovery of life-saving therapeutics to make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients.”
In a constantly changing world, Servier is adapting and flourishing. Our Integrated Annual Report 2022-2023 showcases this evolution, demonstrating how our company is responding in concrete ways to contemporary societal challenges.
Our Integrated Annual Report 2022-2023 is much more than a corporate document: it’s an invitation to explore our story, achievements and aspirations, in a concise and attractive format.
[1] “Patents and innovation against cancer. Evidence from patent and company data”, European Patent Office, February 2024, epo.org