Leadership in drug discovery and penetration of AI into humans
OpenAI's acquisition of Orchestra Bio, Astellas' $400 million deal with AI Proteins, Qualcomm's layoffs and pivot to AI data centers. A series of reports over the past half day indicate that AI is deciding where funds go for research, equipment, and staffing. Meanwhile, in an article listing Americans' fears, anxiety about AI ranked in the top 10, and Duke University is progressing with the clinical implementation of AI for dementia. This sequence cannot be explained solely by measuring how accurate the technology has become. The success or failure of AI implementation now depends on how organizations position AI and how people perceive it. In each of the following sections, we will examine these changes based on individual reports.
OpenAI has acquired AI drug discovery startup Orchestra Bio. CHOSUNBIZ reported on the acquisition as a move to "accelerate AI-driven drug discovery," and another article headlined accelerating new drug development. Business+IT reports that the acquisition comes amid increasing competition from Anthropic and Google. AI companies chose to acquire startups rather than conduct their own R&D as a way to enter drug discovery. When evaluating AI for drug discovery, it is no longer sufficient to simply compare model performance. Which companies have a strong drug discovery team and technology on hand will also factor into the decision.
On the pharmaceutical company side, there is also progress in retaining customers through alliances. Astellas has signed a $400 million computational drug discovery agreement with AI Proteins, according to Fierce Biotech. In a Business Wire announcement from AI Proteins, the two companies signed a research collaboration and licensing agreement. The target is the search and development of new therapeutic drugs based on miniproteins, and the total cost is said to be over $400 million. While acquisitions are primarily moves by AI companies to enter drug discovery, this agreement is a move by a major pharmaceutical company to partner with a company specializing in AI. Since the amount shown is the total amount, readers need to check the terms of the contract in the announcement to determine the actual burden and reward. Still, we can see that funding is shifting from individual experiments to long-term collaborations with partners that have specific technology infrastructure.
The form of contracts themselves is also changing. GeneOnline reported that hourly billing is coming to an end as AI revolutionizes the $400 billion pharmaceutical backend business. If the system of accumulating work hours and billing becomes untenable, contractors will have to demonstrate their value through results and the mechanisms they provide. Ordering parties will also increasingly choose subcontractors based on how they incorporate AI, rather than on the amount of time they can put in the work. The media portrays this change as a structural shift for the entire industry.
