AI Drug Discovery Tests the Limits of Patent Law

Artificial intelligence (AI) already helps research teams design novel molecular structures, predict protein interactions, and identify therapeutic candidates, dramatically increasing the speed of drug discovery. The economic implications are substantial: AI drug discovery is projected to generate $13.4 billion by 2035, up from $1.8 billion in 2024.¹

But there’s a catch. Pharmaceutical economics depends on patents, and patents require human inventors who actually conceived the inventions. Courts have held that AI systems cannot be inventors, yet they haven’t clarified how much human contribution suffices when AI does the generative work. Companies may therefore struggle to demonstrate that an individual substantially contributed — leaving breakthroughs unpatentable. The commercial viability of AI drug discovery thus hinges on legal standards that don’t yet exist.

Despite the uncertainty, companies are already using AI to develop drugs — more than 500 U.S. Food and Drug Administration submissions from 2016 to 2023 included AI components.²

Given competitive dynamics, companies can’t wait for clarity. How they structure AI workflows to preserve human involvement, and how they document contribution, could determine which discoveries they can protect.

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