FACTBOX-Pharma sector doubles down on AI amid hopes of slashing costs, timelines
Jan 15 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to accelerate R&D, betting on new modeling tools and automated labs to unlock efficiency gains across their pipeline.
Industry forecasts suggest that the use of machine-learning to optimize target discovery, design molecules and streamline clinical-trial planning could halve early-stage development timelines and costs within the next three to five years.
Below are the major AI-related partnerships announced from 2025 through early 2026:
Deal announcement | Partners | Deal size (as reported) | Primary objective |
Jan 7, 2025 | PostEra × Pfizer PFE.N | $610 mln potential; incl. $12 mln upfront | Expand Pfizer–PostEra AI Lab and add ADC payload‑design program |
Jan 13, 2025 | IQVIA IQV.N × NVIDIA NVDA.O | Undisclosed | Build custom AI models/agents to automate R&D–commercial workflows |
Feb 20, 2025 | Incyte INCY.O × Genesis Therapeutics | $30 mln upfront; up to $295 mln/target milestones + royalties | Use GEMS platform to design small molecules for Incyte targets |
Mar 3, 2025 | Kyndryl KD.N × Microsoft MSFT.O | Undisclosed | Deploy Dragon Copilot to reduce documentation burden |
Mar 18, 2025 | GE HealthCare GEHC.O × NVIDIA | Undisclosed | Develop autonomous X‑ray and ultrasound workflows |
Mar 25, 2025 | Cleveland Clinic × G42 | Undisclosed | Form task force to accelerate AI use in care and operations |
Apr 16, 2025 | Kenvue KVUE.N × Microsoft | Undisclosed (5‑yr) | Modernize operations using Azure, genAI, and digital twins |
Apr 29, 2025 | Eli Lilly LLY.N × Creyon Bio | $13 mln upfront; >$1 bln milestones | Use AI engine to design improved RNA‑targeted oligos |
May 21, 2025 | Genentech (Roche) ROG.S × Orionis Biosciences | $105 mln upfront; >$2 bln milestones + royalties | Discover monovalent molecular glues using Allo‑Glue platform |
Jun 11, 2025 | Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO × NVIDIA × DCAI (Gefion) | Undisclosed | Build bespoke AI models using Gefion supercomputer |
Jun 13, 2025 | AstraZeneca AZN.L × CSPC Pharmaceutical 1093.HK | $110 mln upfront; up to $1.62 bln dev milestones; up to $3.6 bln sales milestones | Discover oral drug candidates; AZ holds global licensing rights |
Jun 29–30, 2025 | Pfizer × XtalPi 2228.HK | Undisclosed | Expand to next‑gen physics + AI modelling platform |
Jul 2, 2025 | AstraZeneca × Modella AI | Undisclosed (multi‑year) | Use multimodal AI models to speed oncology development |
Aug 14, 2025 | Eli Lilly × Superluminal Medicines | Up to $1.3 bln + royalties | Apply AI GPCR platform to undisclosed targets |
Sep 1, 2025 | University of Oxford × Ellison Institute | £118 mln funding | Use AI + challenge models to map correlates of immunity |
Sep 23, 2025 | Merck KGaA MRCG.DE × Siemens SIEGn.DE | Undisclosed (MoU) | Connect R&D and manufacturing through Siemens digital platforms |
Oct 14, 2025 | Takeda 4502.T × Nabla Bio | Double‑digit millions upfront + >$1 bln milestones | Use JAM AI model to design antibodies and multispecifics |
Oct 26–27, 2025 | Novartis NOVN.S × Avidity Biosciences RNA.O | ~$12 bln cash | Acquire Avidity to strengthen xRNA and neuromuscular portfolio |
Oct 28, 2025 | Eli Lilly × NVIDIA | Undisclosed (>1,000 GPUs) | Build large‑scale AI supercomputer for R&D |
Oct 28, 2025 | Johnson & Johnson MedTech JNJ.N × NVIDIA | Undisclosed | Use Isaac + Omniverse to simulate OR workflows |
Nov 10, 2025 | Eli Lilly × Insilico Medicine | >$100 mln potential + royalties | Use Pharma.AI to design small‑molecule candidates |
Nov 20, 2025 | Merck KGaA × Valo Health | Over $3 bln potential | Use Valo’s human‑data AI to identify targets and speed preclinical work |
Dec 9, 2025 | Novartis × Relation Therapeutics | $55 mln upfront + up to $1.7 bln milestones | Use AI + multi‑omics to find first‑in‑class targets |
Jan 7, 2026 | GSK GSK.L × Helix | Undisclosed | Provide GSK exome + longitudinal data for target discovery |
Jan 8, 2026 | GSK × Noetik | $50 mln upfront + near‑term milestones | License AI virtual‑cell models for cancer research |
Jan 8, 2026 | Pfizer × Boltz | Undisclosed | Fine‑tune Boltz AI models with Pfizer data |
Jan 9, 2026 | Schrodinger SDGR.O × Eli Lilly | Undisclosed | Integrate TuneLab models into LiveDesign |
Jan 12, 2026 | NVIDIA × Thermo Fisher TMO.N | Undisclosed | Pair NVIDIA AI with lab instruments for automation |
Jan 12, 2026 | NVIDIA × Eli Lilly | Up to $1 bln over 5 years | Create closed-loop AI + robotics discovery lab |
Jan 13, 2026 | Illumina ILMN.O × AstraZeneca × Merck MRK.N × Eli Lilly | Undisclosed | Launch Billion Cell Atlas for large‑scale AI training |
Jan 13, 2026 | AstraZeneca acquires Modella AI | Undisclosed | Acquire Modella to deploy foundation models across oncology R&D |
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