Introduction: An Overview of AI in Oncology Drug Discovery and Development

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been termed the machine for the fourth industrial revolution. One of the main challenges in drug discovery and development is the time and costs required to sustain the drug development pipeline. It is estimated to cost over 2.6 billion USD and take over a decade to develop cancer therapeutics. This is primarily due to the high numbers of candidate drugs failing at late drug development stages. Many sizable pharmaceutical and biotech companies have made considerable investments in AI. This is primarily due to recent advancements in AI, which have displayed the possibility of rapid low-cost drug discovery and development. This overview provides a general introduction to AI in drug discovery and development. This chapter will describe the conventional oncology drug discovery pipeline and its associated challenges. Fundamental AI concepts are also introduced, alongside historical and modern advancements within AI and drug discovery and development. Lastly, the future potential and challenges of AI in oncology are discussed