Robert F. ServiceScience's COVID-19 reporting is supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Heising-Simons Foundation.As scientists uncover drugs that can treat coronavirus infections, demand will almost certainly outstrip supplies—as is already happening with the antiviral remdesivir.
To prevent shortages, researchers have come up with a new way to design synthetic routes to drugs now being tested in some COVID-19 clinical trials, using artificial intelligence (AI) software.
The AI-planned new recipes—for 11 medicines so far—could help manufacturers produce medications whose syntheses are tightly held trade secrets.