Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has started using artificial intelligence (AI) to make clinical trials more diverse. It hopes its technology could make treatments for marginalized communities more effective.
J&J’s AI creates a heatmap depicting which clinics black people frequent in order to recruit some patients for clinical trials. Previously, disadvantaged communities were prevented from taking part in trials because of cost and distance, preventing a more well-rounded development of medication.
J&J Plans to Increase AI Trials
The new technology has helped increase the participation of black cancer patients by 5.2%, a trend J&J hopes will continue. It plans to initially increase diversity in 50 and then 100 trials during 2024.
Trials that don’t test effectiveness across gender, race, and age can widen health disparities and reduce the effectiveness of medicines. Big Pharma often enlists established academic medical centers whose populations may not be diverse to ensure equitable treatments.
Around three-quarters of participants in approved drug trials in 2020 were white. Eleven percent were Hispanic, and 8% Black.
AI Success in Clinical Trials
Smaller drug companies, called “biotech” firms, use AI in other ways. For example, Palo Alto-based Inceptive is testing whether AI can develop messenger-RNA (mRNA) vaccines similar to the COVID-19 shot.

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Author: David Thomas