Traditional drug development faces significant challenges - 10 years of investment, 1 billion in costs, and success rates below 10%. These industry pain points may be transformed by AI technology. On September 12, at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services "Artificial Intelligence + Healthcare" symposium, China Telecom leveraged the National Artificial Intelligence Application Pilot Base to partner with industry players and renowned pharmaceutical companies, jointly launching the "AI Drug Development Public Service Platform." The platform highlights innovative achievements in "Artificial Intelligence + Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing" and demonstrates AI application capabilities across six major areas of drug discovery and clinical trials, injecting new momentum into the intelligent development of the pharmaceutical industry.

AI May Be Key to Breaking Traditional Drug Development Bottlenecks

Traditional pharmaceutical R&D is characterized by long cycles, high investment, and substantial risks. The integration of AI offers the potential to make this process both precise and efficient. Through deep learning, AI can extract potential patterns from vast biological and chemical datasets, using computational methods to replace extensive laboratory experiments. This approach could accelerate the entire drug development process by 40% to 60%, potentially reducing new drug time-to-market by nearly half.

At the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services, Beijing officially launched construction of the National Artificial Intelligence Application Pilot Base in the healthcare sector. As the leading organization for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing direction of the base, China Telecom leverages its technological innovation and industrial chain integration advantages to create an AI drug development public service platform centered on "Trusted Biopharmaceutical Data Space." The platform integrates industry-leading vertical domain models, providing high-quality, diversified data and model services for drug development, and establishing a comprehensive service system covering four major stages and 15 key components: "Drug Discovery - Preclinical Research - Clinical Trials - New Drug Launch," supporting innovative upgrades in the biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

During the trial operation period, the AI Drug Development Public Service Platform has served 13 innovative pharmaceutical companies and over 20 clinical trials. Patient recruitment accuracy for clinical trials improved from 25% to 85%, achieving a three-fold efficiency boost and significantly shortening development cycles while enhancing trial efficiency, creating a "Technology-Scenario-Efficiency" value loop.

AI Empowerment: Inviting Global Pharmaceutical Companies to "Team Up"

In the current wave of "AI + Pharmaceuticals" innovation, China Telecom relies on the National Artificial Intelligence Application Pilot Base to accelerate the construction of an international pharmaceutical and health industry hub, providing a "Beijing Solution" for global biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

"Pilot testing" refers to intermediate-scale trials. To implement the "Healthy China" strategy and "AI+" initiatives, promoting bidirectional empowerment between artificial intelligence and healthcare, Beijing actively responds to national strategies. The Municipal Health Commission, in collaboration with the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, is actively building the first batch of National Artificial Intelligence Application Pilot Bases.

At the event, China Telecom joined with globally renowned companies including Bayer, Hengrui, Platelet BioGenesis, and IQVIA to witness the official launch of the AI Drug Development Public Service Platform. All parties, guided by an open and inclusive ecosystem philosophy, integrate upstream and downstream industrial chain resources to jointly build an innovation network covering global pharmaceutical R&D.

A representative from China Telecom Beijing Company stated, "We sincerely invite global biopharmaceutical enterprises, research institutions, and medical organizations to join hands with us. With an open ecosystem as our foundation and professional services as our support, we aim to build an innovation community together. Using AI to reconstruct R&D processes, break down barriers, and enable quality new drugs to move faster from laboratories to clinics, benefiting millions of patients."

The future prospects for AI pharmaceuticals are filled with unlimited possibilities. China Telecom will continue to leverage its digital intelligence advantages, promoting deep application of AI technology in the pharmaceutical and health sectors, contributing more wisdom and strength to human health endeavors.