This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) shares climbed nearly 2% on Monday after the drugmaker announced a major artificial intelligence partnership with Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA).
The two companies said they plan to invest up to $1 billion over the next five years to build an AI-powered laboratory focused on accelerating drug discovery and development.
The new lab will rely on Nvidia’s BioNeMo platform and its next-generation Vera Rubin computing architecture. Lilly and Nvidia also plan to deploy robotics and physical AI tools to speed up how potential medicines move from early research to production. The facility will sit in the San Francisco Bay Area, placing it close to top AI and biotech talent.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said AI continues to reshape every industry, with life sciences standing out as one of the most promising areas. He noted that the partnership allows scientists to explore massive biological and chemical data sets digitally before creating physical molecules.
Lilly CEO David Ricks echoed that view, saying the combination of Lilly’s data and scientific expertise with Nvidia’s computing power could fundamentally change how drugs are discovered. He added that the startup-style lab environment aims to unlock breakthroughs that neither company could achieve on its own.
The collaboration highlights how large pharmaceutical firms increasingly turn to AI leaders to shorten timelines and improve research efficiency.