Novo Nordisk taps OpenAI to accelerate AI push across drug development

Novo Nordisk on Tuesday announced a partnership with OpenAI to deploy artificial intelligence across its business, spanning drug discovery, manufacturing and commercial operations, as the Danish drugmaker looks to sharpen its competitive edge in the fast-growing obesity drug market.

The company said the collaboration would leverage OpenAI’s technology to analyse complex datasets, identify promising drug candidates and improve efficiency across manufacturing, supply chains and distribution.

Pilot programmes will begin across research and development, manufacturing and commercial functions, with full integration expected by the end of 2026.

Drugmakers have increasingly turned to AI tools to streamline time-consuming processes such as identifying clinical trial participants and preparing regulatory filings, although the technology has yet to fully deliver breakthroughs in discovering novel molecules.

Training scientists, not replacing them

Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar emphasised that the initiative is aimed at augmenting human capabilities rather than reducing jobs.

"The aim here is not to replace our scientists. It's about supercharging them," Doustdar said in an interview.

He added that the partnership is not intended to cut the company’s existing workforce but could reduce the pace of future hiring by improving productivity.

Employees will be trained to use AI tools more effectively, boosting output across departments.

“AI is reshaping industries and in life sciences, it can help people live better, longer lives,” said Sam Altman.

Novo said the partnership includes strict data protection, governance frameworks and human oversight, building on its existing AI collaborations with other technology partners and research organisations.

Competition intensifies in obesity drug market

The move comes as Novo Nordisk faces intensifying competition from Eli Lilly in the highly lucrative weight-loss drug segment.

Analysts expect annual revenues from obesity treatments to exceed $100 billion over the next decade.

Lilly recently secured US approval for its weight-loss pill Foundayo, following Novo’s launch of oral Wegovy earlier this year.

The rivalry has pushed both companies to accelerate innovation and expand capabilities across the drug development lifecycle.

Lilly has also been ramping up its AI investments.

It partnered with Insilico Medicine last month to access its Pharma.AI platform and last year joined forces with Nvidia to build what it described as the pharmaceutical industry’s most powerful AI-driven supercomputing infrastructure.

The two companies also announced a co-innovation lab earlier this year, committing up to $1 billion over five years.

AI adoption gathers pace across pharma

Artificial intelligence is increasingly being deployed across the pharmaceutical sector to reduce development timelines and improve efficiency.

While the technology has yet to consistently deliver major scientific breakthroughs, it has already shown value in automating labour-intensive tasks.

AI tools are helping companies identify clinical trial sites faster, recruit suitable participants and draft regulatory submissions, cutting weeks off development cycles.

Consultancy estimates suggest that agentic AI systems could boost clinical development productivity by 35% to 45% over the next five years.

Novo Nordisk’s latest move signals a broader industry trend, as drugmakers race to integrate advanced technologies to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.