- Bristol Myers Squibb is buying Nvidia's latest DGX SuperPOD AI computing system
- The system is based on Nvidia's Vera Rubin architecture, the newest generation
- BMS aims to speed drug target discovery and improve clinical trial success rates
In order to enhance its usage of artificial intelligence throughout its drug discovery and development processes, Bristol Myers Squibb announced on Monday that it is purchasing the newest computing system from chip manufacturer Nvidia.
The pharmaceutical company said that it will purchase an Nvidia DGX SuperPOD based on its Vera Rubin systems, making it the first life sciences company to do so. The chipmaker's next generation of AI computer devices, the Vera Rubin architecture, was revealed earlier this year.
The financial terms for the deal were not made public. BMS executives, in an interview, said it expands upon a smaller SuperPOD system that the pharmaceutical company purchased from Nvidia, which is about two or three generations behind Vera Rubin.
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In an effort to find drug targets more quickly and increase the likelihood that experimental medications will be successful in clinical trials, pharmaceutical companies are investing more and more in AI infrastructure.
According to Bristol Myers' chief research officer, Robert Plenge, the company will be able to cycle through a lot more possible drug candidates early in the drug development cycle because of the new capabilities.
"Maybe before we could do 10, and now we can do dozens," ‌he was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Plenge added that the company is already utilising AI techniques to reduce the time it takes to produce medications for clinical trials by 20% to 30%. According to him, that might even rise to 50% in the upcoming years.
He claimed that without AI-enabled research, the company's experimental sickle cell disease medication, which is currently in early clinical testing, probably would not have been found.
The company's chief digital and technology officer, Greg Meyers, stated that the investment was motivated in part by Bristol's fast-expanding computer needs as it implements larger AI models throughout its research division. All of its small-molecule programs and the majority of its large-molecule programs make use of AI.
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Additionally, he stated that the new system will be more energy-efficient.
"When you host these things, ​you have to pay an electric bill," Meyers added. "Think of it as 10 times more compute capacity per ​watt spent ... Electricity is not getting cheaper."
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