Copyright The Boston Globe
Robots may not be taking the place of researchers in lab coats running clinical trials anytime soon, but AI is playing an increasingly important role in drug discovery efforts. That’s the message Vertex Pharmaceuticals chief executive Reshma Kewalramani conveyed during a discussion with Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman at the Boston Harbor Hotel on Thursday. As the local CEO, Kewalramani was ostensibly the one who was supposed to be asking the questions at the event, hosted by the Boston College Chief Executives Club. But Friedman turned the tables by asking Kewalramani a question of her own: Will AI be a major contributor to how drugs get discovered over the next 10 years? Kewalramani, it turns out, was an AI skeptic — until recently. Advertisement “I used to roll my eyes when people asked me about AI in health care or in drug development ... maybe even up to a year ago,” Kewalramani said. “But I’ve changed my mind [though] it is not the case that we have a computer in the basement at Vertex and it’s spitting out small molecules or protein therapeutics or cell and gene therapy. That’s not true, and I don’t see that happening as far as my crystal ball can see in the next five years, in the next decade.” Instead, Kewalramani said she sees AI taking away much of the grunt work that its human masters now have to contend with. For example, drug-approval paperwork for regulators can take at least six to nine months to write and assemble. She said computers are getting so advanced, they can accept the relevant information and write a first draft almost immediately. “Seconds might be too fast,” she said, “but minutes is doable.” Advertisement A human being still has to go over the draft, she said, but AI has the potential to reduce the time spent on paperwork from months to minutes. “But I still don’t see computers sitting in our basements spitting out medicines for us in the near future,” Kewalramani concluded. To which Friedman responded: “I’ll ask you again in five years.” This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene. Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.
