Hippocratic AI builds in life sciences with Grove AI buy

Hippocratic AI has expanded its focus with the acquisition of Grove AI, a specialist in AI used in pharma R&D, to complement its current activities in patient-facing, generative AI (GenAI) agents.

Palo Alto, California-based Hippocratic AI said it has also appointed Dr Ahad Wahid as president of a newly-formed life sciences division and formed an executive advisory panel to guide that side of the business.

Hippocratic AI was set up in 2023 to develop GenAI agents for a range of healthcare applications, from booking appointments to healthcare billing, in partnership with several healthcare systems in the US. Its core mission was to develop a safety-focused large language model (LLM) for healthcare, primarily to address healthcare worker shortages by handling non-diagnostic, patient-facing tasks.

Since launch, it has raised more than $400 million in funding, growing its valuation to around $3.5 billion, and has been actively looking for acquisitions to grow the company's scope and international presence, according to co-founder and chief executive Munjal Shah.

The takeover of Grove AI marks the first major deal in the life sciences arena, and follows an alliance with Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to work on the development of GenAI tools for the biopharma and medtech sectors, announced last week.

Grove AI, which was launched with $4.9 million in seed funding in 2024 by ex-Stanford Medicine engineers Trân Lê and Sohit Gatiganti, has developed an agentic AI called Grace that is designed to make running clinical trials more efficient by automating tasks like participant pre-screening and follow-ups. Over the last year, its AI has been used in more than 10 million patient interactions across R&D workflows for life sciences organisations, including two of the top five pharma groups.

Last October, it launched a new life sciences-focused agentic AI – Agent Operator – which powers Grace and is designed to help companies automate complex operational workflows across clinical trials, patient services, patient safety, and other functions.

"Real impact in the life sciences sector requires deeply specialised models, exhaustive safety testing, and LLM safety architectures built to operate within highly regulated environments," said Shah.

"That is why Hippocratic AI has strategically expanded its life sciences leadership," making Grove AI a "core pillar" of the new division, he added. The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.

Wahid – a former NHS surgeon and member of the UK General Medical Council's Quality Assurance Board who has spent a decade at BCG – said his focus will be on scaling the use of GenAI in research, clinical, and patient engagement, "without compromising safety or regulatory integrity."

The new advisory panel includes former leaders of Gilead Sciences, AbbVie, Boston Scientific, and the US National Cancer Institute.