Novo partners with Anthropic to accelerate drug discovery

Novo has entered into a strategic collaboration with Anthropic to integrate the artificial intelligence assistant Claude into its research and development operations. The partnership is designed to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines, allowing the pharmaceutical company to address key challenges in drug discovery and support biological reasoning. By leveraging this technology, the firm aims to streamline workflows and enhance the efficiency of its scientific processes.

Anthropic, a leading artificial intelligence company alongside OpenAI, released the Claude Science platform in June of this year. This tool functions as a research workbench intended to assist scientists with tasks such as literature review, data analysis, and protein visualisation. Novo stated that it will initially test the platform for specific workflows within its research and development division. The company plans to focus on scientific problems where the collaboration is expected to have the most significant impact. Additionally, Novo intends to utilise Anthropic’s frontier models to strengthen AI-driven software development, thereby scaling the use of this technology across the organisation.

Mike Doustdar, the chief executive officer of Novo, described the alliance as a means to supercharge the company’s research and development organisation. He noted that the partnership supports the mission to bring transformative health solutions to individuals living with chronic diseases. Doustdar explained that artificial intelligence can increase productivity and compress the timeline from research to marketed product. He further suggested that these tools offer new scientific opportunities and aid in the reasoning and understanding of human biology and drug mechanics.

This announcement follows a major rebranding initiative, with the company now operating solely under the name Novo in day-to-day activities, despite remaining legally known as Novo Nordisk. The rebrand is part of a broader strategy to reverse a decline in market position. Share prices have fallen in recent years as the company lost market share in obesity and type 2 diabetes treatments to competitors such as Eli Lilly. Lilly reported significant revenue growth in the second quarter, driven by strong sales of its drugs, which far exceeded the growth margins seen at Novo.

Under Doustdar’s leadership, who joined the role just over a year ago, the company has focused on pipeline development to find new revenue sources. However, these efforts have faced setbacks, including the failure of the heart and anti-inflammatory drug ziltivekimab. The move to adopt artificial intelligence aligns Novo with other major pharmaceutical firms, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and Eli Lilly, which have also forged partnerships with technology providers to boost their research capabilities.

The timing of the collaboration coincides with warnings from former Anthropic researchers regarding the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. In an interview with the BBC, a former employee expressed concern among technology workers about the speed of progress and its potential impacts on humanity. Despite these broader industry concerns, Novo continues to prioritise its pipeline by enlisting the services of artificial intelligence to enhance its drug discovery efforts.