As artificial intelligence continues to rewrite the rules in countless industries, pharma companies are increasingly getting on board—with their AI tie-ups ranging from narrow projects to enterprise-wide initiatives.
Count Novo Nordisk in the latter category. Tuesday morning, the company unveiled a partnership with OpenAI, ChatGPT’s parent company, to integrate AI “globally from drug discovery to commercial operations.”
The company aims to “bring new and better treatment options to patients faster” through the team-up, Novo said in an April 14 release. Specifically, this will involve tapping AI to analyze complex datasets, identify promising drug candidates and cut overall R&D timelines.
“Integrating AI in our everyday work gives us the ability to analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever,” Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar said in a statement. “This means discovering new therapies and bringing them to market faster than ever before.”
Besides the planned R&D work, the partnership will involve seeking efficiencies in manufacturing, supply chain operations and corporate functions.
Novo says the collaboration will feature “strict data protection” and human oversight to “ensure ethical and compliant use.”
AI partnerships have become a fixture in the life sciences industry in recent years. Among large drugmakers, Eli Lilly struck its own OpenAI collaboration in 2024 to discover novel medicines to treat drug-resistant bacteria, and it also teamed up with Nvidia last year on an industry-leading supercomputer.
Additionally, Sanofi and Formation Bio have an OpenAI pact centered on clinical trial enrollment, and Moderna has a wide-ranging initiative running with the AI stalwart. Thermo Fisher has also tapped OpenAI to help accelerate drug development.
As for Novo, the news comes as the Danish drugmaker looks to regain its edge in the key diabetes and obesity market against rival Eli Lilly. After a 40% stock price decline, a CEO change and wide-ranging layoffs, the company is now engaged in a high-stakes launch with its Wegovy pill. Novo will get a chance to update investors on its progress during its first-quarter earnings presentation on May 6.
