CHINA ENTERS AI DRUG ERA WITH FIRST CLASS 1 INNOVATIVE DRUG APPROVAL

Thu 03 September 2026:

China has given the green light to its first AI-assisted Class 1 innovative drug, a major advance in using artificial intelligence to develop medicines, the state-run Global Times reported.

The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued conditional marketing approval for Mprosevir, a treatment for mild to moderate COVID-19 in adults, the paper said Wednesday.

The drug was jointly developed by Westlake University, Westlake Laboratory and Westlake Pharmaceuticals.

Westlake University is a research university based in Hangzhou, the capital of eastern China’s Zhejiang province.

__________________________________________________________________________

https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22

__________________________________________________________________________

Development of Mprosevir took just three and a half years from the initial discovery of the drug candidate to completion of clinical trials, according to Global Times.

China classifies ‘Class 1’ medicines as innovative drugs that have not previously been marketed either domestically or abroad.

Mprosevir is also the world’s first small-molecule innovative drug approved using DNA-encoded library, or DEL, technology, the report said.

Researchers combined AI with DEL technology to screen a library containing about 49 billion compounds. DEL screening initially identified more than 100 potential candidates before an AI model narrowed the pool to nine within days.

Six of those molecules showed strong activity in subsequent testing.

After toxicity, metabolism and other assessments, researchers selected a molecule known as WLU6937 as the lead candidate.

The team then spent about two years optimizing the molecule, with AI used throughout the process, from laboratory and animal studies to its advancement toward clinical trials.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

__________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22