Novo Nordisk partners OpenAI on R&D "transformation"

Novo Nordisk has become the latest big pharma group to forge an alliance with AI giant OpenAI, seeking to turbocharge its drug discovery and development in an increasingly competitive environment.

The Danish pharma group – currently locked in a battle for market share in the obesity and diabetes categories with Eli Lilly – plans to lodge OpenAI's technologies across its operations, "from drug discovery to commercial," in a bid to "bring new and better treatment options to patients faster."

The AI specialist will help analyse complex datasets, identify promising drug candidates, and reduce the time required to move from research to patient, according to Novo Nordisk, which said the alliance has been set up with "strict data governance and human oversight to ensure ethical and compliant use."

For OpenAI, the agreement marks another achievement in its mission to become a key tech partner for life sciences companies, coming after previously signed alliances with Lilly on antimicrobial development, as well as with Sanofi/Formation Bio and Moderna on more wide-ranging AI projects.

Novo Nordisk's chief executive, Mike Doustdar – charged with turning around the company in the face of pressure on its GLP-1 agonist-based cardiometabolic therapies – said the partnership is "one important step in positioning Novo Nordisk to lead in the next era of healthcare."

He added: "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. This means discovering new therapies and bringing them to market faster than ever before."

Predictably, Doustdar highlighted obesity and diabetes projects as one way OpenAI could give it an edge, saying there are "therapies still waiting to be discovered that could change [patient] lives."

Full integration of OpenAI's platforms is expected to be swift, coming before the end of the year, and the tech company is also tasked with improving the AI literacy and skills in Novo Nordisk's workforce and improving efficiencies in manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, and corporate operations.

"Our ambition: to combine our world-class scientific expertise with cutting-edge AI to accelerate the development of life-changing medicines and deliver better outcomes for the patients who depend on us," stated Doustdar in a LinkedIn post.

"This partnership allows us to embrace the tools that will define the next era of healthcare innovation," he added. "We are committed to doing this responsibly, transparently, and with patient safety at the centre of everything we do."

The OpenAI deal is the latest in a series of initiatives by Novo Nordisk to build AI capabilities, coming less than a year after it joined forces with NVIDIA to apply generative AI to its target and drug discovery functions.