J&J sees AI halving the time to generate drug development leads

Johnson & Johnson is using artificial ​intelligence to slash by ​half the time it takes to generate new ​leads for developing drugs, the company's chief information officer said on Monday.

Discovering new products outright and bringing them to market using AI is not yet ‌possible, but ⁠J&J is ⁠using the new technology to screen the "potential universe" for promising chemical compounds ​or biologics, CIO Jim Swanson said at the Reuters Momentum AI event ​in New York.

"That's still a ways away, but we can optimize," Swanson said. "We've cut our lead optimization time in half."


The New ​Jersey-based pharmaceutical and medical device company has ⁠been working ‌toward a more-focused approach to AI, honing in ​on core ​processes like AI-enabled products, drug development and supply ⁠chain optimization.

"We're trying to cure cancer," Swanson said. "We ​need every tool that we can leverage to ​be able to do that."

AI is also useful in manufacturing, he said. The technology has been helping to determine when to add solvent at the appropriate time and temperature.

J&J is also using AI to streamline preparation of documents for regulators, Swanson ‌said. The traditional process for a clinical trial report can take 700 to 900 hours, he said.

That ​time has gone ​from "700 hours to ⁠about 15 minutes," Swanson said.

Swanson said rather than people being replaced by the technology, he sees using AI as an additional skill ​for the company's employees. J&J currently has about 4,000 information technology employees.

"A software engineer isn't getting replaced, now their role is expanding," he said. "Our focus continues to be on skills. These are 'and' skills, not 'or' skills."