NVIDIA's "pharmaceutical ambition" is becoming clearer: "AI pharmaceuticals" is not hype

Author: Li Xiaoyin

Source: Hard AI

Another focus of the GTC conference, once again confirming Nvidia's "medical ambitions".

At the recent GTC conference, Nvidia announced partnerships with two major medical industry leaders, Johnson & Johnson and GE Healthcare, reaching agreements on the application of artificial intelligence in surgery and the introduction of AI in medical imaging. In addition, Nvidia also introduced more than 20 AI-driven healthcare tools at the conference.

These actions highlight Nvidia's emphasis on future revenue opportunities in the medical field, with expectations for breakthroughs in biotechnology also being one of the key factors supporting the company's stock price surge of nearly 100% this year.

Moody's Senior Vice President and Technical Analyst Raj Joshi stated:

"Nvidia's current popularity is attributed to the foundational technologies it provides, making previously time-consuming tasks simple. The healthcare sector, whether in biotechnology, chemistry, or drug discovery, is a highly promising field."

Although drug development is a long and high-risk project, taking at least ten years from concept to clinical trials and potentially costing billions of dollars, a survey by Ernst & Young at the end of 2023 showed that about 41% of biotech company CEOs are seeking to create "tangible" value for their companies using generative AI.

Arda Ural, Market Executive for Health and Life Sciences in the Americas at Ernst & Young, said:

"Over the past 18 months or longer, due to the actual achievements and exciting applications of AI in the pharmaceutical, medical technology, and biotechnology industries, we have seen more hope than hype."

In fact, Nvidia has long been involved in the healthcare sector. Compiled media data shows:

During the earnings call in February this year, Nvidia mentioned several ways its AI technology is adapting to the medical field;

Last year, Nvidia invested $50 million in Recursion's drug discovery project, using its biological and chemical data to train AI models on the Nvidia cloud platform;

In addition, Nvidia has reached cooperation agreements with Genentech under Roche for the development of new drugs and optimization of treatment plans.

In 2021, Nvidia partnered with Schrödinger on drug discovery projects.

Analysts point out that as of now, relying on the BioNeMo platform, Nvidia has a unique advantage in the healthcare sector. It is reported that the BioNeMo platform is a generative AI cloud service tailored for drug development by Nvidia, which not only improves research and development efficiency but also reduces operational costs for enterprises NVIDIA's Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress stated:

"In the past decade, we have accumulated deep expertise in the healthcare field, creating the Clara healthcare platform and the BioNeMo platform." "In the healthcare field, digital biology and generative artificial intelligence are helping reshape drug discovery, surgery, medical imaging, and wearable devices."

"However, in terms of actual implementation and promotion, the combination of AI technology and healthcare still faces obstacles." Ernst & Young's survey also shows that more than two-thirds of healthcare and healthcare workers hold concerns about the use of AI, with 70% of respondents stating that they would feel anxious about using AI in the workplace