Pfizer has signed a license agreement with Chai Discovery, an artificial intelligence startup focused on accelerating how new drugs are found, according to reports from Pharmaceutical Executive and Pharmaceutical Technology.
Chai Discovery specializes in using AI models — including a tool designed specifically to identify new antibody therapies — to help pharmaceutical companies sift through vast biological possibilities faster than traditional lab methods allow. The Pfizer deal gives the drugmaker access to that platform.
Pfizer isn't the only major player interested. According to Forbes, Eli Lilly is also working with Chai Discovery, and the startup is currently in talks to raise $400 million in additional venture capital funding at a valuation of $3.4 billion — up significantly from a prior valuation of $1.3 billion.
The numbers reflect a broader surge of investment in AI-driven drug discovery, as pharmaceutical giants look to cut the time and cost of bringing new medicines to market. Traditional drug development can take over a decade and cost billions of dollars; AI tools promise to compress the early discovery phase by predicting which molecules or antibodies are most likely to work before expensive lab testing begins.
If Chai Discovery's platform delivers on that promise at scale — with partners like Pfizer and Eli Lilly as proof points — it could signal a lasting shift in how the pharmaceutical industry approaches the earliest and riskiest stage of finding new treatments.