17 Must-Attend AI in Drug Discovery Conferences in 2019: A Comprehensive Guide
Drug discovery marks the inception of the new drug development process. Technologically, modern drug discovery can be divided into three stages: target identification and validation, hit/lead discovery, and lead optimization. As an increasing number of druggable compounds are discovered and utilized, the difficulty in developing new compounds has gradually intensified. Meanwhile, scientific outputs are growing exponentially, making it impossible for any individual to fully comprehend and extract value from these data. Artificial intelligence can extract essential information, such as molecular structures, from vast volumes of literature, autonomously learn to establish correlations within the data, and generate novel insights and ideas.
Currently, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has begun to reshape the new drug development process, with its applications expanding from target screening to a broader range of areas. Specifically, AI applications in new drug development primarily focus on seven directions: target identification, drug screening, drug optimization, patient identification and recruitment, medication adherence management, patient data collection, and crystal form prediction for small-molecule drugs. These applications cover both the drug discovery and clinical trial stages.
Multinational pharmaceutical companies are increasingly positioning themselves in the field of “AI + new drug development.” In June 2017, Numerate and Takeda Pharmaceutical officially signed an agreement to collaborate on leveraging Numerate’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology to discover small-molecule drugs for oncology, gastroenterology, and central nervous system disorders.
In July of the same year, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) entered into a collaboration with Exscientia. The deal was valued at approximately $43 million. Under this partnership, Exscientia will leverage its AI-driven drug discovery platform to develop targets for 10 innovative small-molecule drugs for GSK. Furthermore, other pharmaceutical giants, including Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Sanofi, are also exploring the potential of artificial intelligence to help streamline the drug development process.
At the beginning of 2019, Artery New Medicine (www.dka.global) compiled and updated the guide to global AI conferences in drug discovery officially announced in 2019. The purpose of compiling this conference guide is to enable pharmaceutical companies, investors, scientists, and the interested public to more easily understand the application of artificial intelligence in the emerging field of drug discovery, and to choose to attend events of interest nearby.
This guideline includes 17 conferences based on the following criteria:
1. Must exhibit a high level of activity, with a large number of speakers and participants;
2. Must include at least one group topic related to AI applications in drug discovery;
3. It must include speakers from relevant fields, such as pharmaceutical companies (e.g., Johnson & Johnson, Merck) or technology companies (e.g., IBM, Microsoft). These companies are the primary drivers of AI applications in drug discovery and the main end-users of such technologies.
The selected conferences share the following commonalities:
1. Both include AI startups;
2. Both include scholars and scientists who are highly respected in academia, with the latter sharing a common commitment to helping artificial intelligence experts develop efficient and practical technologies;
3. The vast majority of conferences are held in the United States or the United Kingdom, with a small number taking place in Singapore and China.
Venue: San Francisco, USA
Date: February 27–28
The conference will invite key decision-makers from pharmaceutical companies, biotech drug developers, and technology firms to jointly discuss the application of data-driven artificial intelligence and machine learning in drug development, and to share technical insights based on real-world experience.
We are at a pivotal moment with the potential to revolutionize traditional pharmaceutical practices through artificial intelligence and machine learning. This conference aims to help attendees identify their competitive advantages and fully unlock the application potential of AI technologies by focusing on solution-oriented discussions:
1. Analyze real-world case studies from companies such as Genentech, Berg, and Amgen to explore how AI and machine learning approaches can be applied in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors;
2. Clarify how to optimally construct datasets to maximize the impact of AI and machine learning on the early drug development process;
3. Understand how to apply AI and machine learning for drug repurposing and repositioning purposes;
4. Discuss how to optimally integrate AI talent into the drug development process to streamline drug discovery;
5. Understand how machine learning optimizes molecular design to rapidly advance drug candidates and enable predictive modeling.
Venue: Singapore
Event Date: March 18–20
Following its debut in 2018, Phar-East will once again bring together experts from Asian pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, large pharmaceutical firms, regulatory agencies, CROs/CMOs, and technology innovators to share their expertise and chart the future course of Asia’s biopharmaceutical industry.
The two-day conference will explore the four most exciting areas in Asia’s pharmaceutical industry:
1. Immunotherapy
2. Market Access
3. Regulatory Affairs
4. Pharma 4.0
Phar-East is the premier conference venue for senior executives in Asia’s pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Venue: United States
Event Dates: March 18–22
The Healthcare and Medical Research Conference is part of NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC), the premier artificial intelligence and deep learning conference. It offers training, insights, and opportunities for direct engagement with leading experts in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical research, as well as interaction with specialists in AI and deep learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, and other fields.
Attendees can choose from over 500 conferences and courses to attend, and build extensive connections with technology leaders across various fields. Explore how GPU-driven AI enables personalized medicine, improves population health management, and enhances patient treatment outcomes. Delve into the latest AI advancements in genomics, medical imaging, and drug discovery.
(Specific topics to be announced)
Venue: Shanghai, China
Date: March 28
2019 Global AI-Enabled Healthcare China Summit will be held in Shanghai on March 28, 2019. The event will attract 800 business leaders from more than 30 countries around the world, including CTOs/CIOs and IT experts from top international medical and life sciences organizations, high-tech giants, medical research institutions and laboratories, healthcare AI solution providers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, healthcare software companies, and large hospitals.
During this event, the organizers will arrange one-on-one project matchmaking for sponsors, providing key participants across the medical AI industry chain with opportunities to showcase their brands and explore collaborations with healthcare institutions. Additionally, the event will feature a small-scale exhibition and an industry awards ceremony. Through this event, attendees can gain deeper insights into global technological innovations and market trends in medical artificial intelligence, access relevant policy and industry information from both domestic and international sources, capitalize on business opportunities arising from the potential of AI + Healthcare, secure a first-mover advantage, and stay ahead of competitors in the impending booming market!
(Specific topics have not yet been announced)
Venue: Beijing, China
Date: May 20-23
Each May, the China International Drug Information Conference & DIA China Annual Meeting (hereinafter referred to as the “Annual Meeting”), with a focus on regulatory science and clinical practice, has become an unmissable opportunity for academic and practical exchange, professional network expansion, and the showcase of professional services.
At the upcoming 2019 China International Conference on Drug Information and the 11th DIA China Annual Meeting, to be held from May 20 to 23, 2019, the focus will be on regulatory science for pharmaceuticals, with particular emphasis on drug safety and quality in China.
This year’s annual conference plans to establish 14 thematic tracks and more than 80 breakout sessions covering areas such as regulatory science, implementation and new developments of ICH guidelines, clinical operations and quality compliance, clinical safety and pharmacovigilance, and data standards. These efforts aim to strengthen the foundations of new drug R&D, promote high-quality drug development, and effectively meet patient needs.
(Specific topics have not yet been announced)
Venue: Boston, USA
Event Date: May 23–24
The Deep Learning in Healthcare Summit will return to Boston on the East Coast for its annual conference, bringing together industry leaders, scholars, researchers, and innovative startups to advance deep learning technologies and their applications in healthcare.
Focusing on medical imaging, diagnosis, personalized medicine, and the application of deep learning in pharmaceuticals, patient care, health, and well-being, this summit is an excellent opportunity to discover the latest insights, assess industry positioning, and understand how deep learning impacts attendees’ work, while also providing opportunities to connect with other key members of the community.
(Specific topics to be announced)
Venue: London, UK
Event Dates: May 28–29
This is a small-scale forum, with an expected attendance of nearly 80 participants, including 20 speakers, and a total of 25 interactive sessions. Leading experts in the fields of AI and machine learning will be invited to gather and discuss how to address barriers to pharmaceutical innovation.
Attendees are senior executives, experts, and business professionals carefully selected by the organizers. Over the course of the two-day conference, they will exchange experiences and share knowledge through panel discussions, real-world studies, interactive sessions, and workshops.
Topic Overview:
1. Unlocking the Potential of Machine Learning for Drug Discovery and Development
2. Indication Expansion and Drug Repositioning: Opportunities in Translational Science
3. Are pharmaceutical companies ready to adopt these technologies and transform healthcare?
4. From Finance to AI Drug Discovery: Implementing Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) in Drug Pipelines
5. How can leaders leverage big data analytics to make better and faster customer decisions?
6. Leveraging Advanced Analytics in Target Selection and Validation
7. Leveraging AI/Machine Learning to Enhance Customer-Centricity
Venue: United States
Event Dates: June 13–14
This event will bring together AI thought leaders in the life sciences sector to discuss how the industry can rapidly transform to better leverage existing technologies, and to delve into the current applications of artificial intelligence in:
1. Identify novel indications for compounds with large libraries;
2. Predict the efficacy of potential new drugs before conducting clinical trials;
3. Identify multiple compounds that may be combined for the treatment of new indications or to enhance therapeutic efficacy;
4. Reduce medical diagnostic errors in oncology and pathology;
5. Understand how to leverage a digital therapeutic platform to target multiple indications;
6. Gain an in-depth understanding of implementation issues associated with learning systems in clinical development;
7. Enhance treatment adherence and improve patient recruitment efficiency in clinical trial design;
8. Inspect the data management system to understand privacy, protection, and data ownership management;
9. Implement cutting-edge health data strategies while maintaining compliance within complex privacy and regulatory frameworks;
10. Outline the AI-related technical issues, obstacles, and bottlenecks that may be encountered in the current drug discovery process.
Venue: Boston, USA
Event Dates: September 10–11
Target Identification and Drug Discovery: The Integration of Artificial Intelligence into R&D Programs and Workflows
1. Identify the key points for integrating machine learning methods into drug discovery and development;
2. Share new features in image-based analysis and strategies to enhance performance through deep learning;
3. Carefully examine the impact of AI on the translation rate from discovery to preclinical stages.
Clinical Applications of Machine Learning: Trial Design, Data Endpoints, and Adaptive Trials
1. Understand how AI is applied in passive inpatient monitoring;
2. Handling Machine Learning in Clinical Trials (What Does the Future Hold?);
3. Patient Perspectives (How Deep Learning Can Enable Better, More Patient-Centric Clinical Trials)
Post-R&D Phase: Patient Considerations, Compliance, and Personalized Medicine:
1. Understand how AI enables more comprehensive patient monitoring;
2. Explore how automated alerts can improve treatment adherence;
3. Understand how this technology enables the transformation of regulatory affairs.
Venue: Switzerland
Event Dates: September 11–12
This conference is the only large-scale global summit focused on artificial intelligence in healthcare that has received CPD accreditation. In 2019, the world’s leading AI experts from across the entire AI-health ecosystem will once again convene in Switzerland to further discuss how AI can be leveraged to prevent and address some of the most pressing healthcare challenges worldwide, improve human health outcomes, and shape the global AI agenda for healthcare in 2020 and beyond.
These thinkers and conquerors hail from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical technology, healthcare, clinical, tech companies, and startups. Investment and science will collide intensely over the course of the two-day conference, sparking a revolution in AI-driven health technology.
Key Issues in 2019:
1. THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE: Where Will AI Drive Real-World Medical Care?
2. DEEP DIVE AI TECH TALKS: Fundamental Breakthroughs in AI Will Transform Lives and Reshape Healthcare
3. REGULATORS’ PERSPECTIVES: An Evolving Narrative on How to Regulate Devices Using Self-Improving Algorithms
4.MINISTERS PERSPECTIVE: Using Artificial Intelligence to Address the Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health
5. CLINICIANS AND CMIOs PERSPECTIVE: How can technical personnel convince clinicians and CMIOs of AI’s capabilities and encourage its adoption?
6. CONSUMER EMPOWERMENT: How to Provide Better Healthcare Data Insights to Help Healthcare Consumers Make More Informed Health Decisions
7. CHINA: How China’s Tech Giants Are Delivering Smart Healthcare Services, Driven by the Internet and Artificial Intelligence
8. AI HEALTH TRANSFORMERS: Insights from the CEOs and Founders of the Most Disruptive Health Tech Companies of the Future
9. AI in Global Health: Latest Demographic Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Population Health and Tracking Progress on Health-Related Sustainable Development Goals
Venue: London, UK
Event Dates: September 17-19
AIMed Europe stands out as the premier conference of its kind in Europe, bringing together participants who are part of the revolution transforming healthcare. The event is expected to attract over 1,800 attendees from more than 1,500 companies, with over 350 speakers delivering insightful presentations. AI Med Europe 2019 is tailored for those interested in the most significant paradigm shift in healthcare and medicine—artificial intelligence. Designed by clinicians, this platform will showcase cutting-edge insights, foster new ideas, and facilitate partnerships. The three-day conference is dedicated to exploring the transformative impact of AI technologies on healthcare.
AIMed aims to bring together clinicians, hospital leaders, and technology experts so they can spark a revolution in today’s medicine and healthcare landscape, contributing to a future powered by data intelligence. To achieve this, they have been tracking cutting-edge developments across the field.
(Specific agenda items have not yet been announced)
Venue: London, UK
Event Date: To be determined in September
The conference will invite more than 300 representatives from leading biotechnology companies, global pharmaceutical organizations, and internationally renowned academic institutions in the fields of artificial intelligence and pharmaceutical IT.
The conference features over 30 presentations, case studies, and panel discussions, with a focus on innovative applications of artificial intelligence in drug discovery and cheminformatics, as well as the use of machine learning and big data in clinical trials.
Three interactive discussion topics:
1. Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery and Discovery Chemistry;
2. Machine Learning and Personalized Patient Treatment
3. Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Big Data and Clinical Research Development
Venue: California, USA
Date: October 10–11
The 3rd World Conference on Biological Data in the West will be held on October 10 and 11, 2019. In 2018, the conference was highly successful, with 350 attendees from 167 organizations.
The following are the additions and improvements made in 2019:
1. The organizer relocated the conference venue to the Hilton San Diego Resort in San Diego, California;
2. The conference plans to organize more breakout sessions, invite visionary keynote speakers, host interactive roundtable discussions, and provide live streaming services to fully enhance operational efficiency;
3. Seven thematic areas will be established, with discussions focusing on genomics, AI & Quantum, as well as five new thematic areas: data acquisition, data storage, data security, data strategy, and oncology.
4. Future Technologies. As BioData expands its pioneering approaches to quantum computing, the conference will focus on discussions surrounding the implementation of cutting-edge processing technologies, unlocking the potential value of diverse datasets, and leveraging the latest software programming languages by pharmaceutical and biotechnology executives.
Venue: United States
Event Dates: October 25–26
The AI in Biopharma Summit is the only conference that concurrently convenes key strategic biopharmaceutical stakeholders and data-driven disruptors. The summit will address experiences, challenges, collaborative opportunities, and strategies related to the implementation of AI technologies in drug discovery and development.
Currently, leaders in the biopharmaceutical industry are showing growing interest in driving technological innovation through artificial intelligence. The conference will invite over 40 industry peers to discuss prioritization and practical steps for implementing AI technologies to maximize impact and ROI. This summit aims to help industry leaders identify partners to foster the continuous growth and development of AI applications in biopharmaceuticals.
Overview of Summit Topics:
1. AI in Research and Development: Understanding how to leverage the power of AI to generate new drug candidates, overcome ADME toxicity hurdles, and mitigate risks in regulatory decision-making;
2. AI in Clinical Trials: Understanding how AI influences the design and optimization of clinical trials, patient recruitment and retention, and how fostering the right corporate culture can improve business outcomes, dialogues, and results;
3. Shifting from “AI Science” to “Using AI Tools in Pharmaceutical Sciences”: Learn from Chief Data Officers why data is the new critical asset, explore real-world cases involving AI, and discover how to take steps that directly impact patient care.
Venue: New York, USA
Event Dates: November 11–12
The AI4Healthcare Conference brings together business leaders and data practitioners to promote the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. Over the course of the two-day event, more than 40 speakers will deliver insightful presentations.
The conference agenda is entirely designed around practical needs, with the goal of sharing actionable insights from AI practitioners on the front lines of industry, in an effort to build a shared framework for understanding the end-to-end impact of AI on the healthcare sector. Attendance at Ai4 Healthcare requires an application process; organizers deliberately maintain a low acceptance rate to minimize sales pitches and enhance the quality of dialogue. As a supplement, the organizers provide real-time synchronized mobile livestreaming.
The agenda for this year’s Ai4 Healthcare Conference will revolve around two main themes: data tracking and business tracking.
Venue: United Kingdom
Date: December 3–4
ManuPharma is the only event that goes beyond “standard” manufacturing operations to focus on leveraging future opportunities, addressing strategic-level challenges in small-molecule and biologic manufacturing, and enabling senior pharmaceutical manufacturing decision-makers to engage with real-world case studies presented by leading industry experts for hands-on testing and learning.
Exploring How Pharmaceutical Companies Drive Projects: Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing, Digitalization, Innovative Technologies and Operational Transformation, GMP and Continuous Manufacturing. ManuPharma provides an excellent information exchange platform for senior manufacturing professionals through expert demonstrations, roundtable discussions, interactive workshops, and coffee breaks.
(Specific topics have not yet been announced)
Venue: United Kingdom
Event Date: To Be Determined
The conference will provide an in-depth analysis of the current landscape in the European Union and the United States, highlighting the critical role of technological impact on the sustainability of pharmaceutical and healthcare systems within a multi-stakeholder environment. In addition to offering a comprehensive outlook on key market access policies in major European markets, speakers will outline recent significant technological advancements in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors across the EU and other international jurisdictions. By attending this conference, participants will gain a thorough understanding of the key issues surrounding the latest technologies in pharmaceutical and healthcare analytics.
(Specific agenda not yet announced)
In addition, VBInsight supplemented four sessions in 2019Completed or OngoingKey global conferences on AI-driven drug discovery, with conference names and dates listed below,Interested readers can search for relevant coverage of the following conferences on VCBeat or through other channels.
Conference Name: 2019 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference
Venue: Silicon Valley, USA
Date: January 7-8
Conference Name: WuXi Global Forum 2019
Venue: San Francisco, USA
Date: January 8
Conference Name: Precision Medicine World Conference 2019
Venue: Silicon Valley, USA
Event Dates: January 20-23
Conference Name: 6th International Conference on Accelerating Biopharmaceutical Development (AccBio 2019)
Venue: California, USA
Event Dates: February 17–20
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