Roundtable Insights: Dr. Li Changqing on AI-Driven Clinical Innovation and Industry Outlook

On April 24, Dr. Changqing Li, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer of Evergreen Therapeutics, attended the online roundtable discussion "Applications of AI Large Models in Drug Development" along with Yiming Lu, Head of the Global Product R&D Division at Taimei Technology, and Jinglin Huang, Chief of Staff and Senior Strategy Director at TandemAI. Dr. Changqing Li discussed with the two guests the practical implementation, regulatory landscape, and commercialization trends of AI large models in drug development, while sharing Evergreen Therapeutics' in-depth practices and valuable experiences in this cutting-edge field.

During the meeting, Dr. Li Changqing pointed out that with the continuous iteration of algorithms and computing power, human understanding of chemistry and biology related to diseases has deepened. The powerful generative capabilities of AI also provide scientists with a constant stream of innovative inspiration for their creative work. Evergreen Therapeutics has always been quick to capture this trend, actively deploying AI technology for in-depth application throughout the entire drug research and development process.

Currently, the clinical application of AI technology is a highly regulated "three-highs-and-one-low" scenario, meaning "high accuracy, high transparency, high traceability, and low error rate." In its recent policies, the FDA has shown a positive attitude towards AI technology, including the intention to replace animal testing and the development of compliance guidelines on data and environmental aspects for new drugs using AI technology.

AI Clinical Applications Still Face Many Challenges Such as Data Quality and Model Interpretability. Evergreen Therapeutics, with Its Strong Cross-Disciplinary Team and Extensive Industry Experience, Is Actively Building a High-Quality Database and Continuously Improving the Transparency and Reliability of AI Output Processes.

In the wave of AI-empowered drug research and development, the industry is gradually exploring diversified business models to achieve deep integration of technology and market. In terms of AI technology usage, on one hand, Evergreen Therapeutics utilizes AI to select the most suitable targets and indications during the early stages of drug development; on the other hand, during the clinical trial phase, it optimizes enrollment criteria and patient recruitment through AI, particularly enhancing efficiency and quality in key areas such as global precision recruitment and rare disease patient screening, which are costly and highly complex. Meanwhile, Evergreen Therapeutics is also developing an AI-driven system for intelligent writing of clinical trial protocols, which can assist professionals in automatically generating compliant and highly accurate drug application documents, significantly improving writing efficiency.

Dr. Li Changqing mentioned that AI pharmaceutical companies can be divided into "Enable" (empowerment service companies), "Creator" (creative research companies), and a third type that combines both. Due to the particularity of the pharmaceutical industry, AI pharmaceutical companies do not achieve rapid returns in the early stages of commercialization like other types of AI technology companies. However, the potential, scalability, and market ceiling of applying new technologies to pharmaceutical R&D are enormous. Currently, many companies are still exploring diversified business models oriented toward AI products and services. Internationalization and cooperative development remain the main development paths for AI pharmaceutical companies.

China's pharmaceutical industry is at a critical period of transformation and upgrading. In the process of going global, different pharmaceutical companies have flexible needs for key aspects such as market access, talent attraction, capital alignment, and regulatory recognition. The top priority now is to focus on the essentials and actively embrace global opportunities.