Wiley and IQVIA have published Scientific Discovery & AI: The Science-to-Patient Journey, a cross-sector intelligence report based on discussions among more than 25 senior leaders from pharmaceutical research, academic medicine, health systems, technology companies, publishing, and learned societies.
The report draws from insights shared during The Summit, a two-day, invitation-only session co-hosted by Wiley and IQVIA in May 2026. The event began with a perspective on artificial intelligence and organizational change delivered by Ethan Mollick, a professor at Wharton and author of Co-Intelligence and the forthcoming Co-Existence (October 2026).
Participants included representatives from organizations such as Novo Nordisk, Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Heart Association, JAMA Network, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Michigan, Mapúa University, South Dakota State University, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), BMJ Group, the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Queen Mary Intellectual Property Research Institute, and Turbine.
A central theme of the report is the gap between AI’s technical capabilities and the health system’s ability to integrate them. While AI is accelerating progress from scientific discovery to patient benefit, rapid advances in one stage can create challenges in the next. The report identifies five high-potential directions for the ecosystem:
• Decision-first discovery: Using AI for large-scale exploration to support laboratory target identification and validation.
• Structured negative data: Sharing vetted failed experiments to reduce unnecessary repetition.
• AI agents for patients: Deploying patient-facing AI tools to help individuals navigate health systems.
• Curated aggregation: Combining scholarly records and real-world data as a trusted alternative to general-purpose AI search.
• Continuous learning loop: Feeding real-world evidence back into trial design, clinical guidelines, and upstream research.
Armughan Rafat, Wiley’s Senior Vice President and Chief AI & Data Analytics Officer, emphasized that AI has significantly increased the speed of resolving molecular identities and identifying new candidates. However, he noted that if publishing models, clinical development infrastructure, and real-world adoption do not keep pace, discoveries may not reach patients quickly. He explained that the purpose of the Summit was not to produce consensus but to provide an honest diagnosis of the challenges.
Rob Kotchie, President of Real World Evidence & Clinical Technology Solutions at IQVIA, observed that AI is already reshaping every stage of the healthcare value chain. He highlighted that the greater opportunity lies in connecting these stages into a continuous learning system, where clinical research, real-world data, and advanced analytics work together. He stated that closing the loop between discovery, development, and real-world outcomes could accelerate both insight generation and patient impact.
The report also acknowledges structural limits within the system. A recurring finding across the value chain is that incentives often reward behaviors that do not align with optimizing science, patient outcomes, or long-term progress. Addressing these misalignments, the report suggests, will require collaboration among stakeholders and structural change.
Scientific Discovery & AI: The Science-to-Patient Journey maps findings from the Summit across four stages of the value chain: Discovery and Early Research, Clinical Development and Evidence Generation, Validation and Dissemination, and Real-World Adoption and Patient Impact.
By spanning the full value chain—from evidence creation and peer review to real-world clinical application—Wiley and IQVIA are positioned to connect stakeholders who need to engage in these conversations.
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