When artificial intelligence (AI) meets organoids and organs-on-chips (OoCs): Game-changer for drug discovery and development?

<p>Research and development (R & D) of new drugs is a core engine driving medical progress and plays a crucial role in shaping human health and well-being. Challenges to the conventional drug discovery and development (DDD) pipeline include high cost, long duration, and unsatisfactorily high drug attrition rates. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) and organoids/organs-on-chips (OoCs) have emerged as revolutionary toolboxes for potentially transforming therapeutic development. By analyzing large-scale datasets and complicated biological networks, AI promises to significantly impact modern drug innovation. Organoids/OoCs are emerging <i>in vitro</i> biological models that mimic the essential characteristics of human organs and tissues, offering potentially unparalleled physiological relevance and predictive power for <i>in vitro</i> disease modeling and pharmaceutical development. Over the past few years, several AI- or/and organoids/OoCs-discovered drugs have entered clinical trials, signaling the dawn of a new era of DDD. Notably, utilizing AI and organoids/OoCs simultaneously combines the best of both worlds and represents an innovative strategy to potentially expedite DDD. In this Perspective, we briefly introduce the general concepts of AI and organoids/OoCs, explore their state-of-the-art applications in DDD, and discuss why and how their synergistic impacts can revolutionize the R & D of new drugs. We also address current limitations and propose potential solutions to propel this innovative approach forward.</p>