Inside FII9: Insilico Medicine The FII9 Innovators Pitch 2025, hosted by the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, spotlighted five startups that presented breakthrough AI-powered solutions transforming healthcare, sustainable materials, and next-generation computing. In this series, we explore how each of these innovators is shaping the future with technologies designed to deliver real-world impact.

Insilico Medicine
Leveraging generative AI for drug discovery and healthy longevity

Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-powered drug discovery company, was founded back in 2014 with a mission to accelerate and optimize the development of novel therapeutics. "Drug development is widely recognized as a lengthy and costly process, often taking over a decade and requiring billions of dollars, with a failure rate exceeding 90%," explains Dr. Alex Aliper, co-founder and President, Insilico Medicine. "Recognizing the significant bottlenecks in drug discovery, we envisioned using AI to help extend healthy longevity for people by innovating in this field."

Dr. Aliper's initial focus was on leveraging AI to solve complex biological problems, but over time, his work has evolved into an end-to-end AI-driven solution aimed at addressing challenges across biology, chemistry, clinical medicine, and a range of scientific disciplines. "Our goal is to harness the power of AI to improve the efficiency of drug discovery, reduce costs, and significantly increase the success rate," he says.

One of Dr. Aliper's greatest challenges was proving the real-world effectiveness of the Insilico Medicine AI platform. Between 2014 and 2019, the team focused on developing advanced generative AI engines across biology, chemistry, and clinical applications. Yet, convincing industry partners, academics, and investors of the platform's true efficiency and impact proved to be the most demanding part of the journey. That changed in 2019. "We launched in-house drug discovery pipeline programs powered by our proprietary AI platform," Dr. Aliper says. "The most advanced program driven from this platform, Rentosertib, has now successfully completed Phase 2a clinical trials, confirming safety and showing promising trends in efficacy for patients. In addition, nine other programs developed using our technology have received IND clearance.

"Even more excitingly, by harnessing state-of-the-art AI and automation technologies, Insilico has set a new benchmark for efficiency in preclinical drug development. While traditional early-stage drug discovery typically requires 2.5 to 4 years, Insilico has nominated 20 preclinical candidates with an average timeline, from project initiation to preclinical candidate (PCC) nomination, of just 12 to 18 months per program."

Taking part in the FII9 Innovators Pitch 2025 was an opportunity for Dr. Aliper to share insights and help more people understand both AI-driven drug discovery and the innovative work that Insilico Medicine is advancing. "The Middle East is rapidly emerging as a hub for cutting-edge technologies, and the growth of the biopharmaceutical sector in the region holds exceptional promise," he says. "We are very optimistic about this opportunity and have recently initiated a localized project in the Middle East with the goal of discovering a novel drug from scratch using AI, advancing it to the preclinical candidate (PCC) stage right here in the region. Our aim is to bring the full potential and proven capabilities of AI-driven drug discovery to the Middle East, while also benefiting from its dynamic technological ecosystem and strong local support."

Source: FII9

Going forward, Insilico Medicine will remain committed to establishing a deeper presence in the MENA region, achieving tangible results, and rapidly developing therapies that address patients' most urgent needs. "Our ultimate goal remains unchanged: to harness advanced AI technologies to address diseases and aging, thereby extending healthy longevity to everyone," Dr. Aliper concludes.

"In the near term, over the next 2 to 5 years, I anticipate the emergence of biology super intelligence, chemistry super intelligence, and even pharmaceutical super intelligence. This will take the form of a powerful AI system capable of transforming every stage of drug R&D. Beyond simply enhancing existing processes, such an AI will actively assist humans in decision-making, bringing us significantly closer to efficient, high-success-rate drug discovery."

'TREP TALK: Dr. Alex Aliper, co-founder and President, Insilico Medicine, on AI-driven drug discovery
"Compared to traditional biopharmaceuticals, AI-driven drug discovery remains a niche and highly specialized field. In reality, many stages of conventional drug development can be significantly enhanced and optimized through the application of AI, indicating substantial potential for future advancement. However, regardless of the specific area of focus, case validation remains essential, a principle that Insilico Medicine has consistently upheld over the years. We welcome increased attention and broader participation in this field, and look forward to collaborating to address global health challenges with innovative, worldwide solutions."