Rob DiCicco, vice president of portfolio management at Transcelerate Biopharma Inc, discussed the barriers and breakthroughs shaping the use of Artificial Intelligence in drug development and clinical trials. The focus centered on where these tools can deliver practical value and why deployment in regulated clinical settings remains more complex than in earlier research stages.
Artificial Intelligence adoption in clinical trials is presented as markedly different from its use in preclinical research and development. The discussion points to the distinct demands of trial execution, where solutions must align with established scientific expectations and regulatory requirements. That creates a higher bar for implementation and helps explain why progress in clinical settings can move differently from work done earlier in the development pipeline.
Several emerging approaches were highlighted as signs of change in trial design. Synthetic control arms and in silico modelling were identified as methods reshaping how clinical studies can be structured and evaluated. These applications suggest that Artificial Intelligence can support more adaptive and data-informed development strategies when applied to the specific needs of trials.
The conversation also emphasized that successful use of Artificial Intelligence in this area depends on more than technical performance. Tools must meet not just regulatory and scientific standards, but ethical standards, also. That places trust, appropriateness, and responsible use alongside innovation as central conditions for broader adoption in drug development and clinical research.
The discussion appeared in a pharmaphorum podcast featuring DiCicco in conversation with web editor Nicole Raleigh. You can listen to episode 250 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it and subscribe to the rest of the series on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.
