DENMARK – Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk AS said Monday that it has entered a new strategic collaboration with Microsoft Corp. that seeks to accelerate drug discovery and development by using big data and artificial intelligence (AI).
Through the partnership, Microsoft is providing AI technology, foundational science models, and expertise and is working alongside Novo Nordisk’s data scientists and domain experts to accelerate Novo Nordisk’s research and development.
AI models arising from the collaboration will be applied to a range of use cases, with the first two already in execution, it said.
Through the partnership, Microsoft is providing AI technology, foundational science models, and expertise and is working alongside Novo Nordisk’s data scientists and domain experts from early research and development areas to accelerate Novo Nordisk’s R&D.
“Together, we are on a path to enable faster and scaled use of AI in drug discovery, ultimately leading to more breakthrough innovations and efficiency gain to better serve the needs of patients,” said Lars Fogh Iversen, Novo Nordisk’s senior vice president of digital science & innovation.
AI models arising from the collaboration will be applied to a range of use cases of which the first two are in execution.
One use case is focused on automated summarization and analysis of information from sources such as literature, patents, scientific reports, and discussion forums in order to gain novel scientific insights.
Through the partnership, Microsoft is providing AI technology, foundational science models, and expertise and is working alongside Novo Nordisk’s data scientists and domain experts to accelerate Novo Nordisk’s research and development.
A second use case aims to develop models that predict a person’s risk of developing atherosclerosis, a cardiovascular disease caused by build-up of fats, cholesterol, and other substances in and on the artery walls.
The AI will also be used to identify novel targets and establish biomarkers of the disease.
The companies are taking a platform approach to AI where a set of large models are trained for multiple tasks.
This will allow new projects and use cases to be initiated on a continuous basis throughout the multi-year collaboration between the companies.
In other related news, Sanofi has struck a deal to work with AtomWise on the computational discovery and research of up to five drug targets paying US$20 million upfront and committing to up to US$ 1 billion in milestones.
AtomWise is one of a clutch of companies working to improve drug discovery using artificial intelligence.
Specifically, the startup is deploying its AtomNet platform to move small molecule discovery away from serendipity and toward a potentially more efficient and efficient algorithmic search based on the structure process.
The AtomWise deal comes months after Sanofi expanded its relationship with Exscientia, another AI-enabled drug discovery startup.
Sanofi paid US$100 million upfront and committed up to US$5.2 billion to work with the company on up to 15 small molecules.
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