Sanofi, the prominent French pharmaceutical company, has announced a strategic collaboration with OpenAI, the creator of the popular generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, and Formation Bio, a tech-driven drug development firm. Their goal is to develop AI-powered software designed to accelerate the drug development process and enhance the efficiency of bringing new medicines to market.
Through this AI partnership, the companies aim to harness the considerable potential of AI to benefit patients awaiting new treatments. This groundbreaking collaboration will integrate data, software, and customized AI models to create bespoke solutions spanning the entire drug development lifecycle—a first in the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries.
Sanofi intends to leverage this partnership to access proprietary data, facilitating the development of AI models with the ambition of becoming the first biopharma company to operate at scale using AI.
OpenAI, supported by Microsoft Corp., will offer access to advanced AI capabilities, including model fine-tuning, deep AI expertise, and dedicated resources and strategic partnership.
Formation Bio will contribute extensive engineering expertise and experience in combining pharma and AI, along with its technology-driven development platform, to design, develop, and deploy AI technologies across all stages of the pharmaceutical lifecycle.
"This unique collaboration is a pivotal step in our journey towards becoming an AI-powered pharmaceutical company. Next-generation, custom AI model innovations will form a critical foundation in our mission to advance drug development and provide innovative treatments for patients," said Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson.
Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, highlighted the immense potential of AI to speed up drug development, emphasizing that the partnership could significantly benefit patients and their families by introducing new medicines to the market more rapidly.
In related news, OpenAI recently partnered with social media company Reddit Inc. to incorporate Reddit's content into ChatGPT and its products, and also agreed to become a Reddit advertising partner.
Furthermore, Bloomberg has reported that tech giant Apple Inc. is nearing a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT features into the upcoming iOS 18.