ChatGPT Enterprise accelerates vaccine development in pharmaceutical

This week, the North American pharmaceutical company Moderna announced that it is working in an unprecedented partnership with OpenAI to provide employees with ChatGPT Enterprise, which is the “premium” version of generative artificial intelligence. With 80% of the team using it, the bet is that it will be possible to accelerate the development of new mRNA (messenger RNA) therapies and vaccines, impacting global health.

It is worth remembering that, during the Covid-19 pandemic, Moderna managed to develop its own mRNA vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in record time and, in many markets, the vaccine competed directly with Pfizer’s. Both use the same technology to activate the immune system, but, in Brazil, only Pfizer doses arrived.

For the company’s next 5 years, the goal will be to launch 15 new mRNA therapies and vaccines, in addition to strengthening covid-19 vaccines. In pursuit of this very ambitious objective, ChatGPT will be able to accelerate processes in all areas, which includes clinical research, legal, commercial and vaccine production.

“Moderna is leading the way by empowering all its employees to use AI to solve complex problems,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, in a note about the partnership.

Previously, Moderna employees have been using mChat, which was built internally based on the OpenAI API, since the beginning of last year. So, the migration was organic.

Using ChatGPT in vaccines

To understand the practical applications of ChatGPT and generative AI within the company, the proposal is always to implement it as a way to boost automation and productivity, in the most diverse sectors. The research part like mRNA vaccines is also included.

To understand the extent of use, Moderna employees have already created more than 750 unique and customized versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, also known as GPTs, to perform specific tasks.

Through ChatGPT Enterprise’s Advanced Data Analytics feature, the idea is to better evaluate the ideal dose of the vaccine that will be selected by the clinical study team. To justify the answer, the tool lists consulted references and generates informative graphics, with the main topics, which makes human checking viable.

“This allows for a detailed review, led by humans and augmented with AI information, while prioritizing safety and optimizing the dose profile of the vaccine before further development in late-stage clinical trials”, points out the pharmaceutical company itself.

Generative AI in the future

“Just as the introduction of the personal computer in the 1980s changed the way we work and live, AI is on its way to completely transforming our daily lives”, says Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. This impact will be the same within companies, in the most diverse sectors.

“Moderna has an ambitious plan to launch multiple products over the next few years, and collaborations with companies like OpenAI are critical to our ability to scale and maximize our impact on patients.”

Source: Moderna

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