💬 Quoted… “[It] would change everything.”

• Insilico Medicine, an AI-driven biotech company, used artificial intelligence to develop an experimental drug for the incurable lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The treatment is in mid-stage trials in the US and China, with some results expected in early 2025. And these trials are being monitored by the industry more closely than a magician on Penn & Teller’s Fool Us stage – according to UK-based researcher Deep Pharma Intelligence, Insilico’s drug is the global industry’s first fully AI-based preclinical candidate, and comes at a time when large drugmakers, including Pfizer, are tapping into AI. Morgan Stanley estimates the use of AI in early-stage drug development could translate into an additional 50 novel therapies worth more than $50 billion in sales over the next decade. But – that may be putting the proverbial cart before the horse. AI’s use in drug development remains nascent and is littered with failures, and an editorial published in Nature in October cautioned that claims by drugmakers working with AI need independent verification and clinical trials to determine what’s bogus and what’s not.

😬 Stat of the Day: The main economics expert for Google pulled a Ginny Weasley and accidentally opened the Chamber of Secrets. While on the stand in the company’s antitrust trial yesterday, Kevin Murphy, the previously mentioned economics expert, let it slip that Google pays Apple 36% of the revenue it earns from search advertising on the Safari browser. According to Bloomberg Law, Google attorney John Schmidtlein "visibly cringed" when Murphy revealed the confidential info.

🤔 Did You Know?... A YouGov survey from 2022 found that 67% of Americans said they’ve had a paranormal experience👻.

📰 Worth a Read: The Biggest Questions: Are we alone in the universe? → (MIT Technology Review)