OpenAI partners with Novo Nordisk to accelerate drug discovery and delivery

Artificial intelligence powerhouse OpenAI Group PBC is lending its expertise to Novo Nordisk A/S in a new partnership announced today that aims to accelerate research in the pharmaceutical industry.

The sweeping collaboration will see OpenAI’s intelligent agents embedded across the drug maker’s workflows in order to enhance everything from lab-based drug discovery to the complexities of commercial distribution.

Under the partnership, Novo Nordisk will gain access to OpenAI’s most advanced frontier models. Its goal is to empower its workforce to work smarter and faster by using AI to crunch through massive datasets that bog down human researchers for weeks, and automate other laborious tasks across its business.

Novo Nordisk said the collaboration will help it overcome one of the most pressing challenges facing the life sciences industry: the sheer volume of biological data it has to deal with. The drug company specializes in creating medicines for chronic illnesses such as obesity and diabetes, but the difficulty of identifying the most promising molecules for more effective treatments is a multiyear process that costs billions of dollars.

By using AI to speed up the process of finding hidden patterns within genomic, biological and clinical trial datasets, the company hopes to shorten these development cycles dramatically. The idea is to use AI to simulate experiments that would normally have to be performed in labs, so it can predict the efficacy of drugs before a physical sample is even created.

Novo Nordisk President and Chief Executive Mike Doustdar said millions of people globally living with chronic illnesses are waiting for new therapies to be discovered that can change their lives. “Integrating AI in our everyday work gives us the ability to analyze datasets at a scale that was previously impossible,” he said. “We can identify patterns we could not see and test hypotheses faster than ever. This means discovering new therapies and bringing them to market faster than ever before.”

The companies stressed that this is more than just a software deal. OpenAI will work directly with Novo Nordisk’s employees to teach them how to make the most out of its AI technologies. The goal is to enhance their level of “AI literacy” so that every department can build and use custom tools.

Besides using AI to analyze datasets to try and identify the most promising drug candidates, Novo Nordisk will also apply the technology to its manufacturing, supply chain and distribution operations to try to speed up the time it takes to get its medicines into the hands of patients. To ensure that AI-based decisions remain ethical and accurate, the two companies said they will create a strict data governance framework that includes human oversight.

The partnership will kick off with a series of pilot programs across Novo Nordisk’s research, development and manufacturing operations. If successful, these projects will pave the way for OpenAI’s models to be integrated with its entire global operations by the end of the year.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the goal is to help people live better and longer lives. “This collaboration with Novo Nordisk will help them to accelerate scientific discovery, run smarter global operations and redefine the future of patient care,” he said.

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