Eli Lilly and Nvidia have teamed up to create the pharmaceutical industry’s “most powerful” supercomputer and AI factory that could accelerate drug discovery and development across the sector.
The computer will be the world’s first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems and will use US$1 billion (A$1.53 billion) worth of Eli Lilly’s proprietary technology.
"I don't believe any other company in our industry is doing what we do at this scale,” the executive vice president and chief information and digital officer at Eli Lilly, Diogo Rau, said.
“As a 150-year-old medicine company, one of our most powerful assets is decades of data.
“With purpose-built AI models and AI, we can set a new scientific standard that accelerates innovation to deliver medicines to more patients, faster."
The new technology will allow scientists to train AI models on millions of experiments to test potential medicines, expanding the scope and sophistication of drug discovery efforts.
Eli Lilly also plans to leverage the supercomputer to shorten developmental cycles to get medicines to patients faster.
"The AI industrial revolution will have its most profound impact on medicine, transforming how we understand biology," vice president of health care at Nvidia, Kimberly Powell, said.
“Modern AI factories are becoming the new instrument of science — enabling the shift from trial-and-error discovery to a more intentional design of medicines.”
The supercomputer will be built in accordance with Eli Lilly’s pre-existing sustainability commitments of carbon neutrality by 2030.
The supercomputer will also run on 100% renewable electricity within existing Lilly facilities and use Lilly's existing chilled water infrastructure for liquid cooling.
