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# Companies Using Drug Development AI: Tufts Survey
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/companies-using-drug-development-ai-tufts-survey/
- Published: 2019-05-07T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-15T01:24:59.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5144048

Drug companies are making significant use of artificial intelligence (AI) in drug development, and use of AI is expected to grow as companies seek novel approaches to drug development and encounter growing competition in various disease areas. That’s the major takeaway from a Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development global survey of pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations conducted in collaboration with the Drug Information Association.

The Tufts May/June [*Impact Report*](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a9eb0c8e2ccd1158288d8dc/t/5cd182563853690001540891/1557234262360/summary%5Fmayjune%5F2019.pdf?ref=fdaweb.com) (subscription or single purchase) says one of the factors spurring greater use of AI-driven analytics is the current focus on precision medicine and targeted therapies, as well as increasing demand for new treatments for rare diseases. “As health authorities and industry develop standard policies and a regulatory framework to address concerns regarding AI — such as ethical use, the black box phenomenon, bias, and validation — AI will become more openly embraced, further increasing its use throughout the drug development industry,” Tufts says.

The survey found that AI technology is used across the spectrum of drug development functions, with clinical operations having the highest reported use, followed by pharmacovigilance/risk, management, and information technology (IT).

AI reportedly is most heavily used in oncology, central nervous system/neuroscience, cardiovascular, immunology, rare diseases, and metabolic/endocrine diseases. Survey respondents perceived the overall level of maturity of AI use in the drug industry to be nascent, both in general and within various functions.

The survey found that management of AI technology implementation is widely dispersed within companies. It also found that most organizations plan to increase AI staff modestly through 2023\. The greatest increase in AI staffing will be for data and computer scientists and IT roles, Tufts says.

Finally, major challenges to adopting AI were reported to be lack of staff skills, data structure, and budgets.