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PsychoGenics is using AI to rapidly screen for psychotic treatments

PsychoGenics has developed a drug-discovery application powered by AI technology. Its first objective is to find a formula capable of effectively treating schizophrenia.

The development of new drugs is an impressive science, but most cases begin with an educated hunch and a lot of guess work.

Around only 1 in 1,000 candidates for new treatments ever make it to clinical trials for human testing, and just 1 in 10 of these end up on the market.

Many of the drugs available in pharmacies internationally will have likely taken some 10 years to develop and cost millions of dollars. This may not be the case for much longer regarding psychotic treatments, however, as researchers turn to the increasingly familiar tool of AI.

PsychoGenics, a preclinical organisation hailing from New Jersey, is keen to carry forth the new frontier of medical serendipity using its eponymous platform as well as something called ‘SmartCube’.

The earliest stage of screening is carried out by the former tool, which searches through mounds of complex data on molecular patterns that could otherwise take researchers an entire lifetime.

Before long, the machine gains an understanding of properties like toxicity, bioactivity, and even key characteristics that can be used to form entirely new compounds.

Where, traditionally, the process has been hypothesis driven – and limited – ideas can now be ratified or discounted quickly using the AI and what scientists call ‘data driven’ research.

When it comes to the potential influence of environmental factors on disorders such as schizophrenia and developing psychotic treatments for them, the next phase of AI testing comes in with SmartCube.

Rather than targeting specific genes associated with the disorder, the company analyses patterns of behaviour and the output of the brain to trial treatments. PsychoGenics’ lead neuroscientist, Dr Emer Leahy, describes SmartCube as the company’s workhorse for drug discovery.

Candidate drugs are injected into mice within a hyper-controlled environment where their behaviour is monitored and autonomously tracked over the course of an hour.

‘SmartCube is essentially a box that challenges mice in a variety of ways, while multiple cameras give us a 3D picture of everything that mouse is doing,’ explains Leahy.

‘We’re collecting a couple of million data points from SmartCube, so we’re using machine learning to extract patterns of behaviour and make predictions about therapeutic utility,’ she says.

The use of mice is ethically questionable for obvious reasons, but leveraging the power of AI has undoubtedly improved the results of testing. PsychoGenics had to test around just 300 compounds, compared to the average of 2,500, for a promising treatment to emerge called ‘Ulotaront’.

Found to treat the positive symptoms of schizophrenia – i.e. hallucinations, delusions, and hearing voices – what distinguishes Ulotaront is its reported lack of secondary symptoms.

Feelings of apathy and social withdrawal are usually part and parcel of psychotic medications, but the team documents a significant reduction on both fronts with their product of clinical AI. If correct, Ulotaront could be a game changer.

Due to be investigated further in upcoming clinical trials in Japan and China, there is optimism that the drug could be up for FDA approval in the near future. If that were to happen, AI could transform the way we trial medications way faster than projected.

Rounding off on the potential of AI in clinical trials, Leahy declares: ‘We’re in a new age.’

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