Novo Nordisk Taps OpenAI to Speed Development of New Obesity Drugs

Novo Nordisk A/S will integrate OpenAI’s artificial intelligence across the company to accelerate drug development.

The Danish drugmaker didn’t disclose financial terms of the partnership announced Tuesday, which adds to Novo’s existing AI efforts that include a research-focused deal announced last year with Nvidia Corp.

Novo is trying to get faster at everything from drug development to production planning as it fights to regain its share of the competitive market for obesity drugs. Though it was first to market with the current generation of powerful medicines, the company has lost share to US rival Eli Lilly & Co.

The OpenAI deal is not “about replacing the scientist, it’s about supercharging them,” Novo’s Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said in an interview. “The same would go for many of our employees.”

The aim is to help Novo identify drug targets more quickly and design better clinical trials, as well as gain clear insights from the company’s datasets, Doustdar said. He compared the change to the shift from using fax machines — as workers did when he started at the company — to using e-mail.

Doustdar has reshaped Novo’s workforce since he took over as CEO in August, eliminating about 9,000 jobs and pushing for what he called a performance culture of faster decision-making.

Novo employees already had access to a bespoke version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT but the new partnership goes beyond that, a spokesperson said. Pilot programs will begin in the drugmaker’s research and development, manufacturing and commercial operations units, with full integration by the end of this year.