Nvidia Joins Eli Lilly and Thermo Fisher to Redefine AI-Powered Drug Discovery

Nvidia is accelerating its push into healthcare by partnering with Eli Lilly and Thermo Fisher Scientific, marking a major expansion of its artificial intelligence strategy aimed at transforming drug discovery and laboratory operations. Announced at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, the collaborations highlight how AI is becoming a core technology in modern medicine, from early-stage research to large-scale manufacturing.

At the center of the announcement is Nvidia's partnership with pharmaceutical leader Eli Lilly to build a $1 billion joint AI research lab over the next five years. Based in the San Francisco area, the lab will combine Nvidia's advanced AI computing platforms with Lilly's decades of experience in drug development. The goal is to shorten the time it takes to design, test, and bring new medicines to market by using AI models that can analyze massive amounts of biological and clinical data. By creating closed-loop discovery systems, each experiment feeds directly back into model training, allowing researchers to refine drug candidates faster and with greater precision.

Nvidia also emphasized the growing role of open AI models in healthcare innovation. The company pointed out that roughly 80% of global startups rely on open models, and that healthcare is adopting Artificial Intelligence at nearly three times the pace of the broader U.S. economy. With healthcare spending nearing $4.9 trillion in the United States alone, even small gains in efficiency can have a major impact on costs, outcomes, and patient access to treatments.

Alongside Lilly, Nvidia is working with Thermo Fisher Scientific to bring AI deeper into laboratory environments. The collaboration focuses on building intelligent, autonomous labs by embedding AI into scientific instruments and workflows. Using Nvidia's DGX Spark as a benchtop AI supercomputer, researchers can analyze data in real time, automatically flag errors, validate results, and adjust experiments before the next run. This approach reduces manual work, improves accuracy, and speeds up scientific discovery, with the long-term vision of fully autonomous laboratories.

Nvidia further strengthened its healthcare ecosystem by expanding BioNeMo, its open-development platform for AI-driven biology and drug discovery. BioNeMo now includes advanced models for RNA structure prediction, molecular reasoning, and chemistry-based drug design, along with new software libraries that can cut complex molecular computing tasks from hours down to minutes.

The company also highlighted its work with Multiply Labs, where Nvidia's AI, simulation tools, and digital twin technology are being used to automate the manufacturing of personalized cell and gene therapies. According to Nvidia, these robotic systems have reduced per-dose production costs by up to 70% while dramatically increasing throughput.

Together, these initiatives position Nvidia as a key AI partner for the healthcare industry, signaling a future where smarter labs, faster drug development, and more affordable treatments become the norm.