A company called Insilico Medicine made a new drug named Rentosertib. This drug helps people with a lung disease called Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, or IPF. IPF is a serious condition that makes breathing harder over time. About 5 million people have it worldwide. Most live only 3 to 4 years after diagnosis. Current drugs slow it down but don’t fix it. Insilico wants Rentosertib to do more.

Insilico used artificial intelligence, or AI, to create Rentosertib. Their AI system, Pharma.AI, found a target called TNIK. TNIK is a protein linked to IPF. Another AI tool, Chemistry42, designed Rentosertib to hit that target. This process took just 18 months, which is super fast. Normally, making drugs takes years. The United States Adopted Names Council gave Rentosertib its official name recently.

AI can speed up medicine-making

Rentosertib is a product of generative AI. It’s the first drug where AI found both the target and the medicine. Tests show it works well so far. In early trials with healthy people, Rentosertib was safe and easy to take. These Phase I trials checked pharmacokinetics, or how the body handles the drug. Results looked good in New Zealand and China.

Next, Insilico tested Rentosertib on IPF patients in a Phase IIa trial. This 12-week study showed it’s safe at all doses. Patients taking higher doses saw better lung function, measured by forced vital capacity, or FVC. At 60mg, patients improved FVC by 98.4 mL. The placebo group, with no real drug, lost 62.3 mL. Patients also felt better, with less coughing.

Rentosertib had mild side effects and no big problems. Insilico plans bigger trials now. They hope it becomes the first AI-made drug to reach patients. The name Rentosertib honors Feng Ren, a key scientist at Insilico. This drug could change how we fight IPF. It shows AI can speed up medicine-making. Insilico aims to help people with IPF and prove AI’s power in science.

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