THE CRIS Foundation against cancer presented the first research unit with artificial intelligence (AI) in Spanish public health for the design of new drugs.
More precisely, it is the new CRIS computational chemistry laboratory located in the CRIS experimental therapies unit of the San Carlos Clinical Hospital. According to the Foundation, this is a pioneer laboratory which “uses the most advanced technologies and artificial intelligence tools to identify new compounds with potential, refine them and verify their effectiveness”. The presentation event took place as part of World Breast Cancer Day, which will be commemorated next Saturday, October 19.
The objective of this laboratory is discover so many compounds Where possible, those with a higher level probability of becoming drug which reach patients, as quickly as possible and with 80 percent lower cost than traditional methods.
Ten years for a new drug
“He discovery and development of a new drug involves, from the discovery of the target until its approval in patients, a approximate expenditure of 1 billion dollars and an average of 10 years. Furthermore, the probability of success is less than 5 percent,” explained Alberto Ocaña, oncologist and director of the CRIS Experimental Therapies Unit at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid.
The laboratory thus makes it possible to carry out steps which accelerate all the phases prior to laboratory tests, so that can be achieved in a few months, what previously took 5 to 10 years.
According to the Foundation, thanks to artificial intelligence and “big data”, the CRIS computational chemistry laboratory accelerates the discovery of new drugs and allows them to reach these patients much sooner who still do not have an effective therapeutic opportunity.
Curing cancer through research
“Cancer is a serious global health problem and the leading cause of death in our country and requires immediate responses from social agents and public institutions. Research increases patient survival and this includes the study and implementation of new drugs“, explained the director of the CRIS Cancer Foundation, Marta Cardona.
“Since the CRIS Foundation against cancer, we have been working to accelerate cancer cure and this can only be achieved through research“, underlined Cardona.
In recent years progress has been made in the treatment of cancer, but still on a global scale Nearly 40 percent of people with this disease do not recover.. In addition, the number of people diagnosed is increasing from year to year.
Research progress has made it possible to discover a large number of weak spots in tumors that are not found in healthy cells – what in science is called therapeutic targets-. Designing drugs against these targets is very slow, extremely expensiveand it does not always end in a completely effective drug. Developing a drug can take 5 to 7 years and cost between $1 billion and $2.5 billion.
