Drugmakers Are Scaling AI to Accelerate Discovery and Gain Competitive Advantage Faster

AI might be the new shortcut to faster profits, and drugmakers are starting to treat it that way. Novo NordiskNVO

, known for Ozempic and Wegovy, says its AI tools are trimming weeks or even months from clinical trial timelines. As the race to speed up development intensifies, competitors are rushing to unlock more revenue.

• Novo trained its AI agents on internal and competitor data, using Celonis software alongside Anthropic and OpenAI models to detect risks, flag gaps, and automate trial site selection.
• Simultaneously, Eli LillyLLY
  is doubling down with a $2.75B deal with Insilico Medicine to license roughly 28 AI-developed drugs, with about half already in clinical stages.

The race for speed: Novo’s Digital Transformation Officer Stephanie Bova pumped the brakes on the AI hype, warning that there’s been a rush into use cases without considering whether they’re worth the time and cost. The company even restricted access to its Found Data tool, powered by Anthropic’s Claude, after it proved too expensive to scale. Still, as AI compresses one of the most expensive timelines in business, the pharma giants that move fastest stand to capture the most ground.