AI agents for drug development: OpenAI buys start-up Orchestra Bio
OpenAI is acquiring start-up Orchestra Bio, whose AI agents help pharma companies manage development programmes. The team and technology will join OpenAI's life sciences unit Rosalind.
Graphic: TERRA WORLD NEWS (own graphic based on the sources listed)
OpenAI has acquired San Francisco start-up Orchestra Bio, as first reported by Axios. Financial terms were not disclosed. Orchestra develops AI agents that support pharmaceutical companies in drug development: they monitor studies and timelines, flag potential delays and show, for example, how a failed manufacturing batch affects a programme. Scientists and programme leaders still make the decisions.
The team and technology will be folded into Rosalind, OpenAI's suite of AI models and tools for life sciences researchers. OpenAI introduced the GPT-Rosalind model in April; it is reserved for selected enterprise customers, including Moderna. "Our goal is to help scientists make discoveries and manage the work needed to turn them into treatments," OpenAI said.
Orchestra Bio was founded in autumn 2022 and, according to Decrypt citing Caplight data, raised about 20 million dollars, including from Andreessen Horowitz. It is not affiliated with medical device maker Orchestra BioMed. Rival Anthropic is also expanding its life sciences offering.