San Diego EDC – The Power of AI for San Diego’s Life Sciences Companies
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A recent San Diego Regional EDC report analyzing the proliferation of artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI-ML) in San Diego Life Sciences companies found only 18 percent of local companies reported engaging with AI-ML. Although San Diego is a top life sciences growth market among AI-ML peer metros, companies are still in the initial stages of adopting AI.
While just on the cusp, AI-ML has already illustrated how it can provide innovative pathways to achieve lifesaving scientific breakthroughs across key industry verticals such as research and development (R&D), biopharmaceuticals, and surgical and medical device manufacturing.
Here’s how:
As exemplified during the pandemic, researchers deployed AI-ML to geographically predict COVID-19 outbreaks and inform effective distribution of limited supplies and personal protective equipment. A local team of UC San Diego scientists utilized AI-ML to understand the underlying factors that cause different people to experience different COVID-19 symptoms.
San Diego R&D companies reported using AI-ML for molecular profiling to accelerate detection, diagnosis, therapy selection, and drug discovery.
San Diego’s Takeda Pharmaceuticals is a self-described “cloud-first” drugmaker and has leveraged AI-ML models to inform key endpoints related to drug discovery. The Takeda Fellows Program works at the intersection of AI-ML and health, using electronic health record algorithms, remote sensing data as it relates to environmental health risk, and neural networks for the development of antibiotics, automated inspection in sterile drug development, and machine learning for liver phenotyping.
Medical device companies described how wearable tech powered by AI-ML can simplify the monitoring of individual patient health vitals and drug interactions to improve prevention, detection, and treatment of diseases. Other companies reported leveraging AI to analyze large datasets generated from operating rooms to help promote and more easily replicate successful surgical outcomes.
As the adoption and development of AI-ML technologies grows and expands to other aspects of operations, the demand for skilled AI-ML talent will rise. Although San Diego has a strong and growing supply of more than 15,000 AI-ML professionals across all industries, investing in and diversifying talent pipelines will be key to the future success of AI-ML implementation.
Read the full report at lifesciences.sandiegoAI.org and engage with EDC at sandiegobusiness.org
Submitted by San Diego Regional EDC