Moderna has teamed up with OpenAI to bring its GPT technology to drug development.
The collaboration, which a Moderna spokesperson said began in May 2023 and was not disclosed previously, has allowed the company to get up to “80% internal adoption” using a tweaked version of the popular ChatGPT, according to a press release. Moderna is now using GPTs across a variety of sections in its business. Terms of the deal will not be disclosed Wednesday, the spokesperson confirmed.
In a statement, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the GPTs will help Moderna reach its goals of launching several new products over the next few years. Bancel previously told Endpoints News in September that the company is planning 15 product launches and 50 clinical candidates through 2028, and is investing $25 billion in R&D to get there.
Moderna’s partnership comes as AI is taking the biotech world by storm. Tech giant Nvidia — of video games hardware fame — has built a $1 billion-plus revenue stream in health thanks to its AI projects. Also, Endpoints reported on Tuesday that a horde of big-name VCs are backing Xaira Therapeutics with $1 billion-plus on applying AI to drug development.
OpenAI is also the second major tech player with which Moderna has partnered — the big biotech teamed up with IBM in April 2023 to take advantage of its quantum computing and generative AI capabilities.
The surge in investment, however, dovetails with the first wave of AI-designed drugs falling short in the clinic. Biotechs like Exscientia, Recursion and BenevolentAI have had to adjust their pipelines after setbacks, while bigger companies like Sumitomo Pharma also abandoned programs.
The Wall Street Journal first reported news on the Moderna-OpenAI deal.