China Healthcare: Expert call takeaways: Industry trends of AI-driven drug discovery (AIDD) in China

Research evidence excerpt

China Healthcare: Expert call takeaways: Industry trends of AI-driven drug discovery (AIDD) in China

Expert: The most promising companies are those with proprietary drug pipelines, as they

can directly demonstrate the effectiveness of their platforms. The industry is shifting

toward either self-developed pipelines or collaborative R&D. Standalone software

licensing companies are becoming less prevalent due to limited profitability and growth

potential. Many companies still focus solely on technology platforms, but this may lead

to stiffer competition and loss of bargaining power when partnering with large

multinational corporations (MNCs).

6. Compared to overseas peers, what are the core gaps or advantages for

domestic AIDD companies?

Expert: China has strong clinical resources and talent, and the CDE (Center for Drug

Evaluation) is actively embracing new changes. The supporting ecosystem for innovative

drugs is robust. However, in areas such as algorithms, funding support for AIDD, and

collaboration with MNCs, overseas AIDD companies still maintain a relative advantage.

7. How are cooperation models between major pharmaceutical companies and

AIDD firms evolving? Who holds more influence in the industry chain?

Expert: AI companies are gradually increasing their influence. Once they develop

proprietary pipelines and validate their platform capabilities, they gain autonomy by

selling their pipelines via business development (BD) deals. In the future, major

pharmaceutical companies and AIDD firms are likely to become more interdependent.

Influence depends on the clinical stage of AIDD companies; at the clinical stage, large

pharma companies still tend to retain stronger negotiating power.

8. Has the efficiency improvement of AI-driven drug development become