Novo Nordisk partners with OpenAI on drug discovery
Novo Nordisk will work with OpenAI to accelerate drug discovery, the Danish pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday. The partnership aims to help the company analyze complex datasets, identify new drug candidates, and reduce the time between research and patient access.
Novo CEO Mike Doustdar said the collaboration will let the company "analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever." The company focuses on obesity and diabetes treatments, areas where it competes with U.S. rival Eli Lilly.
Novo's stock rose 2.8% on the announcement.
A broader trend in pharma
Drugmakers across the industry are turning to AI to streamline operations and compress timelines. While drug discovery gets the attention, experts say the near-term payoff may come elsewhere in development.
AI can help identify patients and sites for clinical trials-a time-consuming task that traditionally relies on manual work. A partner at consulting firm Arthur D. Little told CNBC last month that clinical trial design and execution remain "very traditional," with AI applied only at certain points.
"AI is not an end-to-end component yet," the consultant said.
Novo's existing AI work
This partnership builds on Novo's collaboration with Nvidia, announced last year. The companies are using Nvidia's Gefion sovereign AI supercomputer to develop customized AI models for early research and clinical development.
Novo has lost its first-mover advantage in the weight loss market and is racing to regain share. The company launched its Wegovy pill in January and is developing next-generation drugs to compete with Eli Lilly's offerings.
Learn more about AI for Healthcare and how Generative AI and LLMs are being applied across medical research and development.
Your membership also unlocks:
