On Wednesday, Pershing Square CEO Bill Ackman highlighted a case in which AI helped identify an untried drug combination for a rare-disease patient who had been sent to hospice.
AI Finds New Treatment Path for Rare Disease
Ackman on Wednesday shared a 2025 New York Times report on X about a 37-year-old man with POEMS syndrome, a rare blood disorder, whose condition had deteriorated to the point that he was being sent to hospice.
An AI system analyzed thousands of existing medicines and identified a combination that no one had previously tried for his condition. The patient reportedly responded within a week and later went into remission following a stem cell transplant.
“Incredible,” Ackman wrote while sharing the report.
The case highlights one potential application of AI in medicine — drug repurposing, where existing medicines are analyzed for possible uses against diseases they were not originally developed to treat.
AI Healthcare Debate Gains Momentum
In July, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said, “AI is already a better doctor than 99.99% of human doctors,” while responding to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s comments about an evaluation of GPT-5.6.
Altman said physicians found fewer flaws in GPT-5.6’s medical responses than in responses written by physicians.
In March, Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY) finalized a $2.75 billion deal to bring AI-developed drugs from Hong Kong-based Insilico Medicine to the global market.
Previously, Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman also identified health care as a major AI opportunity.
Microsoft and Mayo Clinic have partnered to develop a health care-focused AI model using Mayo’s clinical expertise and de-identified patient data.
Healthcare AI Still Faces Challenges
A 2024 survey of 43 U.S. health systems found clinical documentation was among the most successful uses, while more complex applications such as clinical risk prediction had lower reported success.
The survey identified immature technology, financial concerns and regulatory uncertainty as major barriers to broader adoption.
Disclaimer: This content was produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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