Although I’m optimistic that AI will design better drug candidates, this alone cannot ensure “therapeutic abundance,” for a few reasons. First, because the history of drug development shows that even when strong preclinical models exist for a condition, like osteoporosis, the high costs needed to move a drug through trials deters investment — especially for chronic diseases requiring large cohorts. And second, because there is a feedback problem between drug development and clinical trials. In order for AI to generate high-quality drug candidates, it must first be trained on rich, human data; especially from early, small-n studies. Clinical Variables