AI drug discovery credit gap delays patient access

US patent law's current rules create uncertainty about who gets credit for AI-designed drugs, potentially slowing patient access to innovations.

Insilico Medicine filed a patent for a pulmonary fibrosis drug candidate in 2023, listing five human inventors including CEO Alex Zhavoronkov. The company states its generative AI platform discovered the molecule. US patent law currently treats AI as a tool without inventorship rights—US courts ruled in 2022 machines cannot be patent inventors, and the USPTO follows this policy. This creates friction: when AI designs drugs, unclear credit attribution risks delays in bringing treatments to patients. The friction stems from US patent law’s lack of clarity on AI authorship, not global standards. Insilico is one of several firms using AI for drug design.

This friction could slow how quickly AI-driven health innovations reach patients by complicating patent approvals. For the need of accessible medicines, it means potential delays in getting new treatments to those who need them most. The source covers only US patent law specifics—no global standards or international context exists here.

Source: MIT Tech Review