Novartis has entered into a new collaboration with artificial intelligence company Chai Discovery to accelerate the discovery of therapeutic antibodies using advanced AI technology. The partnership aims to improve how new medicines are identified and developed by combining Novartis’ drug research expertise with Chai Discovery’s AI-powered molecular design platform.
Under the agreement, Novartis will gain access to Chai Discovery’s latest artificial intelligence models, including its recently developed Chai-3 model. The technology will be used to support the discovery of antibodies for multiple therapeutic programs targeting a wide range of diseases.
The companies said the collaboration builds on more than a year of technical work together. During that period, Novartis received early access to Chai Discovery’s next-generation protein-folding model, allowing researchers to evaluate the company’s AI capabilities before expanding the partnership.
Following the progress made over the past year, both companies have decided to broaden their collaboration and use Chai’s AI tools across multiple drug discovery programs.
Therapeutic antibodies are laboratory-designed proteins that recognize and bind to specific disease-related targets in the body. They have become one of the fastest-growing classes of medicines and are widely used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and other serious medical conditions. However, discovering effective antibodies can be a lengthy and expensive process that often takes years of laboratory research.
Chai Discovery believes artificial intelligence can significantly shorten this timeline.
The company’s AI platform is designed to predict how molecules interact with each other and help scientists create entirely new biomolecules with specific desired properties. Instead of relying solely on traditional laboratory testing, researchers can use AI to generate and evaluate thousands of potential antibody candidates much more quickly, helping identify the most promising options earlier in the drug development process.
According to Chai Discovery, its technology can compress drug discovery timelines by designing molecules based on predefined scientific criteria and improving the efficiency of early-stage research.
Joshua Meier, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Chai Discovery, said the collaboration with Novartis represents an important milestone for the company.
He said the partnership expands the number of therapeutic programs that can benefit from AI-driven molecular design and demonstrates growing confidence in artificial intelligence as a tool for developing new medicines.
Novartis also believes AI will play an increasingly important role in pharmaceutical research.
Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, said artificial intelligence is already changing how medicines are discovered. She explained that advanced AI models can help researchers explore a much wider range of possible antibody designs, make better decisions earlier in the research process, and concentrate resources on the most promising drug candidates.
Marshall added that combining Novartis’ scientific expertise with Chai Discovery’s AI technology could help researchers address difficult biological targets and speed the development of potential new treatments for patients.
The agreement is the latest example of growing investment by pharmaceutical companies in artificial intelligence to improve drug discovery. AI technologies are increasingly being used to analyze biological data, predict molecular structures, design new compounds, and identify potential medicines faster than traditional research methods.
For Chai Discovery, the Novartis collaboration further expands its presence in the pharmaceutical industry. The company has previously announced similar customer agreements with Pfizer and Eli Lilly, reflecting increasing interest in its AI-powered molecular design platform among major global drugmakers.
Neither company disclosed the financial terms of the agreement.
As pharmaceutical companies continue to adopt artificial intelligence across research and development, collaborations such as this are expected to play an important role in speeding up the discovery of new therapies. By combining AI-driven molecular design with traditional scientific expertise, Novartis and Chai Discovery hope to improve the efficiency of antibody discovery and ultimately deliver new treatment options for patients across multiple diseases.