OpenAI acquires Orchestra Bio, accelerates AI-driven drug discovery - CHOSUNBIZ

OpenAI is expanding its work on developing new medicines by buying a company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help manage drug research and development.

On October 20, local time, OpenAI announced that it had acquired Orchestra Bio, an AI platform that coordinates and manages the process of developing new medicines.

OpenAI plans to combine Orchestra Bio's platform with Rosalind, its AI tool for life sciences research. The company hopes this will help researchers make scientific discoveries and manage the steps needed to turn research results into real treatments more efficiently.

Under this plan, human researchers and AI agents will work together to track clinical trials and monitor research progress. If something goes wrong while a prototype is being made, an AI agent will examine the cause and suggest ways to fix the problem.

OpenAI is also building partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies around the world. It works with Novo Nordisk, the company that developed the obesity treatment Wegovy, on research and development (R&D). It is also pursuing cooperation on AI technology with companies such as Moderna, which developed a COVID-19 vaccine.

OpenAI expects AI to help shorten the average 10–15 years needed to develop a new medicine, from finding possible drug candidates to getting approval. The company also expects AI to make complex research and development work more efficient.