Big Idea:

Genentech, a Roche biotech subsidiary, is partnering with Nvidia in a multi-year deal to leverage artificial intelligence for faster, more efficient drug development. By leveraging AI research, Genentech hopes to speed up drug discovery and simultaneously improve Nvidia’s own drug discovery software, BioNemo.

Why It Matters:

Biotech companies are relying on AI increasingly to expedite the timeline from drug discovery to disease target and human clinical trials. The ability to deliver a new, critical drug to the market is crucial for saving lives and giving pharmaceutical companies a competitive edge. 

Key Details:

• The average drug development cycle spans over a decade, with costs averaging $2.3 billion.
• Genentech's 'lab-in-a-loop' framework seamlessly combines experimental data with AI, enabling continuous advancements in drug design.
• NVIDIA BioNeMo™, a central element in this collaboration, offers rapid AI model training and deployment capabilities for accelerated research.

“Our collaboration with NVIDIA builds on our long history of successfully inventing and deploying technology in ways that were not initially apparent to others,” said Aviv Regev, executive vice president and head of Genentech Research & Early Development (gRED).

What's Next:

This partnership involves the exchange of expertise between the two companies, both top in their fields of AI and biotech research. Nvidia’s venture arm has invested in other biotech startups so these types of collaborations aren’t slowing down any time soon.

The Intrigue:

Nvidia is known for their advanced computing chips but now has extended their capabilities to imaging and claim they can predict protein structures and screen small molecules accurately and quickly. This raises questions about the implications of AI in medicine and how it can affect the regulatory landscape. 

Flashback:

Genentech's venture into AI includes a $12 billion collaboration with Recursion in 2021. This partnership targets over 40 programs in neuroscience and oncology, further highlighting Genentech's steady trajectory towards AI-driven innovation in pharmaceuticals.

‍