How AI is Revolutionizing Drug Discovery

Dear Readers,

Medicine is at a turning point: while animal testing was considered unavoidable for decades, AI-supported simulations and organ-on-a-chip models are now taking center stage in drug research. What long seemed like science fiction is becoming reality—in the future, drugs could be developed in half the time and at a fraction of the cost. This is changing not only the speed of innovation, but also the ethical foundations of the entire industry.

In this issue, we take a look at precisely these upheavals: from Recursion's cancer research in record time to new trends such as GLP-1 microdosing in the longevity scene to visions of practical immortality by 2050. We also offer exciting insights into current AI breakthroughs, fresh figures, and a few uncomfortable questions about social justice. If you want to know how technology is already pushing the boundaries of humanity today, read on.

In Today’s Issue:

All the best,

A break in drug research: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is forcing a move away from animal testing and is increasingly relying on AI-supported simulations, organ-on-a-chip technologies and human cell models. This brings us closer to a vision of developing drugs faster, cheaper and in a more targeted manner - without ethical legacy issues.

Until now, the development of a drug has taken an average of 15 years and cost around two billion dollars. New AI approaches promise to halve time and costs within a few years. Companies such as Recursion are already demonstrating this: their cancer drug reached the clinical phase in just 18 months, while the industry average is 42 months. Players such as Certara and Schrodinger are also pushing ahead with AI-supported drug development.

For the AI community, this is a directly tangible use case: a field in which algorithms have a real social impact - not in the distant future, but today. Although animal testing will not disappear immediately, the hybrid approach marks the transition to a new era of research.

Why it matters: AI is changing the rules of the game in the pharmaceutical industry. It accelerates development, reduces costs, and sets new ethical standards.

Sources:

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/ai-driven-drug-discovery-picks-up-fda-pushes-reduce-animal-testing-2025-09-02/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

🔗 https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-fda-phase-out-animal-testing-drug-development-2025-04-10/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

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Tolion Health introduces the beta version of its AI-based app Tolion Brain Coach – the first personalized mobile tool designed to support brain health and longevity, which is set to launch in the U.S. market by the end of 2025. The app is based on a successful pilot and brings cognitive life extension directly to the smartphone – a small step for the app, a giant leap for personalized, digital healthcare.

A new, controversial trend: microdosing of GLP-1 drugs such as tirzepatide and semaglutide—originally used to treat diabetes and for weight loss—is being touted as an anti-aging method. Although medically unproven and regulatory concerns remain, influencers and telemedicine providers rave about potential benefits such as reduced inflammation. A look at DIY longevity, where hopes for health meet questionable science.

Futurists paint a radical vision: through converging advances in AI, robotics, and biotech, “practical immortality” could be possible by 2050—human life lasting up to 1,000 years. Nanobots, consciousness uploads, senolytic therapies—an optimistic future, but with harsh social shadows: inequality, the environment, and ethics are coming into focus. An invitation not only to celebrate progress, but to reflect on it.

Working at the intersection of AI and human longevity? We’re inviting researchers and innovators to submit their work to be featured in Superintelligence, the leading AI newsletter with 200k+ readers.

Whether you’re using AI to extend lifespan, improve healthspan, or accelerate biomedical breakthroughs, email your arXiv.org link or a summary to [email protected] with the subject line “Longevity Submission”. If selected, we’ll contact you for a potential feature.

Xi: “People rarely lived past 70 before. Now at 70 you’re still a child.”

Putin: “With biotech, organs can be replaced endlessly… people could even reach immortality.”

Xi: “Some predict people might live to 150 this century.”

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