AbbVie, Valkai Partner to Advance AI in Clinical Development

AbbVie has entered into a new collaboration with life sciences AI company Valkai to expand the use of artificial intelligence across selected areas of clinical development.

The partnership will allow AbbVie to deploy purpose-built AI tools designed to improve efficiency in clinical research, speed up data analysis and help researchers generate insights more quickly. The companies said the technology could also help reduce the time needed for some drug development activities.

AbbVie is already using AI across research and development, operations and other parts of its business. The new partnership with Valkai is intended to build on these efforts by connecting advanced AI capabilities with clinical research workflows.

One of the main areas of focus will be handling the growing volume and complexity of clinical data. AbbVie said AI could help reduce time spent on manual processes and allow clinical teams to focus more on scientific interpretation and clinical strategy.

Nicholas Donoghoe, Executive Vice President and Chief Business and Strategy Officer at AbbVie, said the company is focused on applying AI in areas where it can have a meaningful impact. He added that combining AI with human expertise could help teams make decisions faster and support the development of new medicines.

Valkai CEO Vignesh Rajendran said the collaboration brings together the company’s AI capabilities with AbbVie’s scientific expertise and global scale.

Andrew Campbell, M.D., Vice President of Clinical Sciences at AbbVie, said AI tools such as Valkai’s could reduce the time researchers spend on routine work and give them more time to focus on clinical strategy and interpreting scientific evidence.

Valkai describes its platform as an AI operating system for life sciences, designed to support faster decision-making in pharmaceutical and medical technology research. The company said its team includes professionals with experience at organizations including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Sierra and Glean.

The partnership is part of AbbVie’s broader AI@AbbVie strategy, which aims to integrate artificial intelligence into drug discovery, development and other business functions while maintaining human oversight and responsible governance.

As pharmaceutical companies manage increasingly large and complex datasets, the use of AI in clinical development is becoming a growing area of investment. AbbVie and Valkai will focus their collaboration on targeted clinical research areas as the companies look to improve research workflows and accelerate access to scientific insights.