China challenges US in AI drug race, but rivals still reliant on each other

China has emerged as a credible challenger to the US in artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery, where advantage depends not only on computing prowess but also on the ability to effectively mine data, from genomes to clinical trial results, according to Leung Chuen-yan, a private equity investor and life sciences scientist.

“Globally, the way companies develop and use AI to discover drugs is similar, from finding the drug target and designing the molecule to planning clinical trials,” said Leung, a partner for healthcare investment at Hong Kong-based Value Partners Group, in a recent interview with the Post. “There isn’t an AI model yet that is truly multimodal around the world, which can jump from DNA and imaging [molecules] to delivering clinical trial reports.”

While the first step in training such models is data collection, including consolidating information siloed across different countries, US pharmaceutical players are deepening their reliance on China’s clinical data.

“People [are increasingly trusting] Chinese data more as it aligns with globally generated data,” said Leung, son of former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying.