Artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical development and dual-use research of concern

A call to action

Bibliographic Data

ID21515387
AuthorsChris Bobier (0000-0003-4194-4721, Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA, corresponding author), Daniel J Hurst (0000-0003-0592-2592, Director of Medical Professionalism, Ethics, & Humanities, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, New Jersey, USA), John Obeid (Central Michigan University College of Medicine, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, USA)
Year2026
Volume52
Issuee1
Pagese12-e15
Publication date2026-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Medical Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0306-6800 • E-ISSN: 1473-4257
PublisherBMJ (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1136/jme-2025-110750
PMID40147882
OpenAlexW4408892700
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

Fervent attention was paid to what is coined dual-use research (DUR), or research that can both benefit and harm humanity, and dual-use research of concern (DURC), a particular subset of DUR that is reasonably anticipated to be a safety and security concern if misapplied. The aim of this paper is not to reiterate the challenges of DURC governance but to look at a new turn in DURC, namely the challenges posed by the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in pharmaceutical development. This is important, as AI is increasingly being used for pharmaceutical development in the industry. There is growing recognition that AI is DURC, and there is a dearth of industry and governmental guidance

Business · Call to action · Corporate governance · Economics · Engineering ethics · Harm · Humanity · Management · Pharmaceutical industry · Political science · Public relations · Biomedical and Engineering Education · Biosimilars and Bioanalytical Methods · Computer Science · Engineering · Ethics in Clinical Research · Law · Medicine · Marketing · Pharmacology

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