French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi will work with the tech powerhouse OpenAI and New York-based startup Formation Bio to develop AI-powered software in drug R&D, the three companies announced Tuesday.
The deal is the latest example of a tightening relationship between drugmakers and AI companies, and the second major deal that OpenAI has made in the biopharma industry, after announcing a collaboration arrangement with Moderna last month.
Details of the announcement were vague, though the companies stated they would “bring together data, software, and tuned models to develop custom, purpose-built solutions across the drug development lifecycle.” In particular, Sanofi will bring its proprietary data, OpenAI will provide its AI expertise and ability to fine-tune models, and Formation Bio will bring its engineering resources, the companies said. A Sanofi spokesperson added the trio will focus on customizing large language models designed for drug development.
Brad Lightcap“There is massive potential for AI to accelerate drug development,” OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap said in a statement. “We are excited to collaborate with Sanofi and Formation Bio to help patients and their families by bringing new medicines to market.”
But the announcement didn’t provide details on specific research projects that the trio will focus on first. It also doesn’t specify if any resulting software will be shared freely and open-sourced, sold to other drugmakers, or kept proprietary. A Sanofi spokesperson said there were no financial terms to disclose.
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson has regularly touted the drugmaker’s embrace of AI across the company, as a way to enhance corporate productivity and to power R&D work. He called the arrangement “the next significant step in our journey to becoming a pharmaceutical company substantially powered by AI.”
Similar partnerships are becoming common in the industry. The chipmaker Nvidia has grown its healthcare business into a $1 billion-plus revenue stream, selling both its powerful computing chips as well as software services making it easier for drugmakers like Amgen and Roche’s Genentech to use AI. The Alphabet-backed startup Isomorphic Labs has also struck research partnerships with Novartis and Eli Lilly.