If you know anything about me, you know I’m concerned about the AI boom. However, there is one big, obvious, already-starting-to-happen benefit from AI, too. I’m talking about AI’s ability to help develop novel drugs and disease treatments at lightning speed. You can play the trend with the iShares US Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE), writes Nilus Mattive, editor of Safe Money Report.
There’s one thing that AI is especially good at right now — crunching large amounts of data in a hurry. Nowhere is that ability more needed than in healthcare, particularly in the area of drug discovery and development.
iShares US Pharmaceuticals ETF (IHE)
AI can make light work of tasks that were previously insurmountable for entire teams of human beings. And the better news is that it isn’t replacing their roles, it’s simply freeing up more time for scientists and researchers to ask better questions and get faster answers.
Rather than blindly stumbling through a maze of possibilities, hoping for a valid path, scientists can have AI models work out billions of permutations all in one shot. This automates labor-intensive efforts and saves lots of money in the process. We’re talking months instead of years…and billions of dollars.
Plus, it can streamline the process of getting drugs through clinical trials. That saves even more time and money. Your typical pharmaceutical business has been very much like a vintage muscle car — made of real metal and steadily increasing in value with every passing year. As these companies integrate AI into their businesses, it’s like installing the mechanicals from a modern-day F1 car under that 1960s bodywork.
How can you play the trend? If you want broad exposure to the sector, use an ETF like the IHE. The drug stocks it owns provide items people need no matter what’s happening in the world or the economy. That leads to relatively stable, predictable cash flows…money that usually comes back to shareholders as large and growing dividend streams.
Those payments help cushion portfolios during downturns. And ironically, the defensive nature of the business attracts more capital during market drops, too.
