Novo Nordisk has announced a companywide partnership with OpenAI to integrate artificial intelligence across its drug discovery, manufacturing and commercial operations, as the Danish pharmaceutical group seeks to recover ground lost to rival Eli Lilly in the global weight-loss drug market.
The collaboration will apply OpenAI's technology to analyse complex datasets, identify promising drug candidates and shorten the time required to move medicines from early research to patients.
Pilot programmes will launch across research and development, manufacturing and commercial operations, with full integration planned by the end of 2026.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Novo Nordisk chief executive Mike Doustdar said the partnership would allow the company to "analyse datasets at a scale that was previously impossible, identify patterns we could not see, and test hypotheses faster than ever."
"There are millions of people living with obesity and diabetes who need treatment options, and we know there are therapies still waiting to be discovered that could change their lives," he said.
The deal extends well beyond the laboratory: OpenAI's tools will also be applied to improve efficiency in manufacturing, supply chain management, distribution and corporate operations, and OpenAI will assist in upskilling Novo Nordisk's global workforce to improve AI literacy.
The partnership has been structured with data governance protocols and human oversight requirements to ensure ethical and compliant use, the companies said.
The announcement adds OpenAI to a growing roster of technology partners at Novo Nordisk, which last year struck a deal with Nvidia to use the Gefion sovereign AI supercomputer, Denmark's first AI-ready supercomputer, to accelerate drug discovery through customised AI models and agents.
Novo Nordisk has been under significant commercial pressure since losing its early lead in the market for glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, a class of drugs that includes its flagship Ozempic and Wegovy products.
Eli Lilly, its US rival, recently secured approval for Foundayo, an oral weight-loss pill, and has been investing heavily in AI-driven drug development, signing 16 AI-based deals since 2025 including a $1 billion partnership with Nvidia and a $2.75 billion agreement with Insilico Medicine, an AI drug discovery company.
Novo Nordisk launched its own Wegovy pill in January as part of efforts to claw back market share, and its chief executive has described the OpenAI partnership as an important step in positioning the company to lead in the "next era of healthcare."
Shares in Novo Nordisk rose 2.8% following the announcement, reflecting investor appetite for the deal.
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The partnership arrives as pharmaceutical companies more broadly accelerate AI adoption: the total value of AI partnerships in the sector rose 120% year on year between 2024 and 2025, according to data from GlobalData, a research firm, while venture financing for AI life sciences deals grew 48% over the same period.
Analysts have cautioned, however, that meaningful results from AI-assisted drug discovery programmes typically take several years to materialise, and that the technology has yet to fully demonstrate its potential at scale across the pharmaceutical industry.
The recap
- Novo Nordisk is integrating OpenAI’s artificial intelligence companywide
- The company did not disclose financial terms of the partnership
- Announcement follows a research-focused deal with Nvidia Corp last year
