Insilico Medicine Co-CEO: AI Drug Discovery Enters 'Second Half' Focused on Success Rates

In an interview with Securities Daily on September 17, Ren Feng, co-CEO and chief scientific officer of Insilico Medicine, said AI drug discovery has entered its "second half," where the key question is no longer whether AI can improve R&D efficiency but whether it can increase the success rate of drug development.

Ren cited the company's interim results for the first half of 2026, with revenue of $106.3 million, up 287.2% year-on-year, and a net profit of $35.54 million, compared with a net loss of $19.22 million a year earlier—marking Insilico's first half-year profit since listing. Cumulative contract value signed since 2021 reached about $11 billion as of the end of June 2026, with partners including Eli Lilly, Servier, Takeda and other domestic and international companies. Revenue is still largely driven by upfront payments from research collaborations and pipeline licensing, but the company expects milestone payments to account for a growing share over time.

Insilico has 13 drug candidates with investigational new drug (IND) approvals. Rentosertib, a candidate for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis discovered and designed with AI, has entered Phase III clinical trials with a target enrollment of 320 patients. Ren said top-line data are expected in 2029 if all goes well. The company has also nominated 33 preclinical candidate compounds, six of which target first-in-class targets.

Ren said that in the coming years, all pharmaceutical companies may become AI drug discovery companies in a broad sense. AI is not meant to replace scientists; the industry needs to prove that human-AI collaboration can ultimately deliver safe and effective medicines.