The end-to-end process in the discovery of drugs involves therapeutic candidate
identification, validation of identified targets, identification of hit compound
series, lead identification and optimization, characterization, and formulation
and development. The process is lengthy, expensive, tedious, and inefficient,
with a large attrition rate for novel drug discovery. Today, the pharmaceutical
industry is focused on improving the drug discovery process. Finding and
selecting acceptable drug candidates effectively can significantly impact the
price and profitability of new medications. Aside from the cost, there is a need
to reduce the end-to-end process time, limiting the number of experiments at
various stages. To achieve this, artificial intelligence (AI) has been utilized
at various stages of drug discovery. The present study aims to identify the
recent work that has developed AI-based models at various stages of drug
discovery, identify the stages that need more concern, present the taxonomy of
AI methods in drug discovery, and provide research opportunities. From January
2016 to September 1, 2023, the study identified all publications that were cited
in the electronic databases including Scopus, NCBI PubMed, MEDLINE, Anthropology
Plus, Embase, APA PsycInfo, SOCIndex, and CINAHL. Utilising a standardized form,
data were extracted, and presented possible research prospects based on the
analysis of the extracted data.