Novo Nordisk partners with OpenAI to speed drugmaking and operations

Novo Nordisk is betting that artificial intelligence can do more than polish corporate workflows. The Danish drugmaker said it will use OpenAI across nearly every part of its business, from drug discovery and development to manufacturing, supply chains, distribution and commercial operations, with pilot programs starting in research and development, manufacturing and commercial work and full integration planned by the end of 2026.

The company’s pitch is practical rather than futuristic. Novo said OpenAI will help analyze complex data sets, identify promising drug candidates and improve operational efficiency, while also helping train its global workforce to use AI tools more fluently. That matters at Novo, which said in its 2025 annual report that its value chain runs from identifying new treatments through R&D, manufacturing, supplier partnerships and distribution. With about 68,800 employees in 80 countries and products sold in around 170 countries, even small gains in internal speed could ripple across a sprawling health care operation.

The near-term promise is real, but it is narrower than the hype around AI often suggests. Software can help sift data, draft routine materials and flag patterns faster than humans can. It can also ease bottlenecks in candidate selection and internal coordination. What it cannot do is replace the slowest, most expensive parts of drugmaking: human clinical trials, regulatory review, plant construction and the manufacturing discipline needed to move a medicine from approval to reliable supply.

That distinction is especially important in obesity drugs, where Novo is trying to regain momentum against Eli Lilly. Lilly won U.S. approval for its weight-loss pill Foundayo, orforglipron, on April 1, 2026, after Novo had already won FDA approval for oral Wegovy on December 22, 2025 and launched it in the United States in early January 2026. Novo said the starter dose would cost $149 a month for cash-paying patients and that the drug was being produced in the United States. Analysts expect annual revenue from weight-loss drugs to top $100 billion over the next decade, a scale that makes every month of delay, every manufacturing hiccup and every coverage decision matter for patients and payers.

Novo also announced a restructuring in September 2025 that cut 9,000 jobs, about 11.5% of its workforce, and was expected to save about 8 billion Danish kroner a year by late 2026. Chief executive Mike Doustdar has said the aim is not to replace scientists but to supercharge them, and he has suggested AI could slow future headcount growth. The company said the OpenAI partnership will include strict data protection, governance and human oversight, a reminder that in health care, the question is not whether machines can accelerate work, but which parts of the system still depend on clinical judgment, public oversight and the capacity to deliver medicine at a price and scale patients can actually reach.