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# Publications on AI for drug discovery rose 58% to 3,311 in 2025, almost eight times 2018
- URL: https://aiadoption.org/data/ai-drug-discovery-publications/
- Published: 2026-10-19T16:36:53.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T06:04:52.000Z
- Description: Publications on AI for drug discovery reached 3,311 in 2025, up 58% from 2,100 in 2024 and almost eight times the 431 of 2018.
- Author: Manu
- Tags: Data, AI in Healthcare, #chart, #ai-index-2026, #hub-healthcare

3,311

▲ 58% vs 2024

publications on AI for drug discovery in 2025

20182025

## What the chart shows

RAISE Health counted 3,311 publications on AI for drug discovery in 2025, up 58% from 2,100 in 2024 and almost eight times the 431 of 2018.

The count has risen every year in the series, and the increase of 1,211 papers in 2025 was the largest. Publication counts measure research activity: they do not show how many AI-designed drugs reach clinical trials or patients.

## Key numbers

| Measure | Value |
| ------- | ----- |
| 2025    | 3,311 |
| 2024    | 2,100 |
| 2023    | 1,470 |
| 2020    | 720   |
| 2018    | 431   |

## How to read it

- Publications identified by RAISE Health as being about AI for drug discovery, by year of publication.
- Counts measure research activity, not quality or clinical use.

**Source:** [RAISE Health](https://aiadoption.org/sources/#raise-health), 2026, via the AI Index Report 2026 (Stanford HAI), figure 6.1.2: *Number of publications on AI for drug discovery, 2018–25*. Chart and text by AI Adoption.  
Numbers checked against the published data on 20 October 2026.  
[Download the data (CSV)](https://charts.aiadoption.org/ai-index/csv/ai-drug-discovery-publications.csv?ref=aiadoption.org) · [Cite this chart](#source)