--- title: "Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly pay Anthropic and other AI labs for drug tools; no AI-designed drug is approved" description: "Anthropic's IPO filing, OpenAI's Orchestra Bio purchase and Isomorphic Labs' funding talks at $40 billion or more all landed inside two weeks, and two of the three are building drug programs alongside the tools they sell. Novo Nordisk, a Rosalind customer and an Anthropic partner, reports on November 4 against Lilly's 63% share of the US GLP-1 market." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Health" published: 2026-11-03T16:12:25.390Z modified: 2026-11-03T16:12:25.390Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/novo-nordisk-and-eli-lilly-pay-anthropic-and-other-ai-labs-for-drug-tools-no-ai-designed-drug-is-approved language: en keywords: "Anthropic, OpenAI, Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Drug Discovery, Artificial Intelligence" --- # Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly pay Anthropic and other AI labs for drug tools; no AI-designed drug is approved > Anthropic's IPO filing, OpenAI's Orchestra Bio purchase and Isomorphic Labs' funding talks at $40 billion or more all landed inside two weeks, and two of the three are building drug programs alongside the tools they sell. Novo Nordisk, a Rosalind customer and an Anthropic partner, reports on November 4 against Lilly's 63% share of the US GLP-1 market. ## Novo pays the labs that are learning its trade [Novo Nordisk](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/novo-nordisk) reports third-quarter results on November 4 as a paying customer of both [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai)'s Rosalind life-sciences suite and [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic), which is buying biotechs as it files to go public [3][4]. The stakes: Novo's shares are down 21% this year [1], and [Eli Lilly](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/eli-lilly) holds 63% of the US market for GLP-1 drugs, the injected diabetes and obesity medicines [2]. Novo has already shopped outside for molecules, paying Hengrui up to $2.6 billion for an unproven pill ([The Inference, October 7](https://theinference.org/article/novo-nordisk-pays-hengrui-up-to-2-6-billion-for-an-unproven-pill-and-its-buyback-ran-11-above-the-market)) [1][2]. The rented layer is wide. OpenAI counts Novo and [Moderna](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/moderna) among Rosalind's customers [3], and Anthropic's IPO filing names Novo alongside [Bristol Myers Squibb](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/bristol-myers-squibb), [AbbVie](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/abbvie) and Sanofi as partners [4]. The pharmas are paying the labs to learn the drug business. ## The vendors are buying into the drug business Anthropic [filed on October 26 to list on Nasdaq](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/anthropic-extols-ais-drug-rd-potential-including-risks-mammoth-ipo-filing) as ANT, in an offering reported at more than $100 billion raised toward a $2trn valuation [4][5]. The filing discloses a molecular biology laboratory and in-house discovery work on neglected diseases [4][5], and says nine of the ten largest pharmas each spent at least $100,000 with Anthropic over a recent year [6]. A day after filing came Mithril Medicine, a biotech whose only full-time employee used Claude across 11 contract labs to take a muscular dystrophy candidate from idea to mouse data inside 18 months, with human trials possible as soon as late 2028 [7], and [a reported $400 million in stock bought the biotech Coefficient Bio](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/03/anthropic-buys-biotech-startup-coefficient-bio-in-400m-deal-reports/) in April [8]. OpenAI bought tools instead on October 20: Orchestra Bio, which had raised about $20 million, its trial-tracking agents folded into Rosalind at an undisclosed price [3][7]. [Isomorphic Labs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/isomorphic-labs), spun out of [Google DeepMind](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/google-deepmind), runs AI models for Lilly's and [Novartis](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/novartis)'s own programs, has raised $2.7 billion, and is still preclinical: not one of its drugs has reached human testing [9]. [Talks reported in October could value it at $40 billion or more](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-02/isomorphic-labs-president-says-ai-will-design-all-drugs-one-day) [9]. GlobalData puts pharma AI partnership value up 120% between 2024 and 2025 [4]. ## Lilly pays because two molecules carry it Mounjaro and Zepbound, two brands of one molecule, tirzepatide, made $16.1 billion of Lilly's $24.4 billion [third-quarter revenue, up 39%](https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/unprecedented-weight-loss-drug-craze-030300440.html), and tirzepatide was 65% of first-half sales [2][10]. Guidance rose to $91 billion to $92 billion, its second raise in three months [10], and the next injectable, [retatrutide](https://theinference.org/article/eli-lilly-s-retatrutide-beat-ozempic-head-to-head-20-9-weight-loss-vs-9-4-before-novo-nordisk-reports), delivered more than double the weight loss of Ozempic's highest approved dose head to head [10]. *Chart: **Lilly's quarterly revenue has nearly tripled in three years** Line chart of Eli Lilly's quarterly revenue from Q4 2023 to Q3 2026, rising from $9.4 billion to $24.4 billion.* *Eli Lilly revenue by calendar quarter, US$bn, from SEC filings, retrieved 3 November 2026. Source: Eli Lilly quarterly figures from its SEC filings (11). [11]* Lilly pays the labs too: 50,000 employees hold Claude accounts, and more than 85% of staff actively use them [6]. Its other route to a pipeline cost $13.3 billion in acquisitions in the first half alone [10]. *Chart: **Two tirzepatide brands carried two thirds of Lilly's Q3 revenue** Bars comparing Eli Lilly's third-quarter 2026 revenue from Mounjaro, Zepbound, and all other drugs combined, with the combined figure marked as derived.* *Q3 2026 revenue by product, US$bn. 'All other drugs (derived)' is the $24.4 billion total less the $16.1 billion of combined tirzepatide sales; it is an estimate, not a reported figure. Sources: TIKR; Yahoo Finance. [2][10]* The benefit today is Lilly's: it rents the models while tirzepatide pays for them, and the risk sits with the pharma customers, Novo included, if any lab-owned candidate reaches the clinic. ## No AI-designed drug has ever been approved [That approval count is still zero](https://www.businessinsider.com/anthropic-ipo-filing-boosting-biotech-research-2026-10) [6], and Anthropic's own filing concedes any candidate faces "lengthy, costly, and uncertain" development and may never generate revenue [5]. Isomorphic president Max Jaderberg said on November 2 that "all drugs in the future will be AI-designed," then placed his company in "first innings," still before human testing [9]. The dates that settle it are fixed: Novo's print on November 4 [1], Anthropic's ANT pricing [4], and [the first clinical trial that Isomorphic chief executive Demis Hassabis promised for the end of 2026](https://theinference.org/article/isomorphic-says-its-ai-is-proven-2-7-billion-rides-on-a-31-december-deadline) [9]. Two months remain on that clock. ## Takeaway Pharmas now pay AI labs for drug tools while the labs buy into drugmaking themselves, but no AI-designed drug has been approved and Novo's November 4 print sets the near-term score. ## Sources 1. [Ad Hoc News (boerse-global), "Novo Nordisk Girds for November 4 Update With Buyback Past 10.5 Billion DKK and EU Rivalry Sharpening", 19 October 2026](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/boerse/news/unternehmensnachrichten/novo-nordisk-girds-for-november-4-update-with-buyback-past-10-5-billion-dkk-and-eu-rivalry/70358758) 2. [Yahoo Finance / TheStreet, "Unprecedented weight-loss drug craze pushing Lilly to near-record highs", 2 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/healthcare/articles/unprecedented-weight-loss-drug-craze-030300440.html) 3. [Ai Data News, "OpenAI Acquires Orchestra Bio, Folding Drug-Program AI Agents Into Its Rosalind Life Sciences Suite", 3 November 2026](https://www.aidatanews.com/openai-acquires-orchestra-bio-folding-drug-program-ai-agents-into-its-rosalind-life-sciences-suite/) 4. [Pharmaceutical Technology, "Anthropic plots IPO amid ongoing foray into drug development", 28 October 2026](https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/news/anthropic-ipo-drug-development-pharma/) 5. [Fierce Biotech, "Anthropic lays out drug R&D ambitions, risks in mammoth IPO filing", 26 October 2026](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/anthropic-extols-ais-drug-rd-potential-including-risks-mammoth-ipo-filing) 6. [Business Insider, "Anthropic's IPO push includes a big bet on life sciences", 31 October 2026](https://www.businessinsider.com/anthropic-ipo-filing-boosting-biotech-research-2026-10) 7. [PYMNTS, "Anthropic Buys One-Person Biotech to Prove Claude Can Make Drugs", 2 November 2026](https://www.pymnts.com/news/artificial-intelligence/2026/anthropic-buys-one-person-biotech-to-prove-claude-can-make-drugs/) 8. [TechCrunch, "Anthropic buys biotech startup Coefficient Bio in $400M deal: Reports", 3 April 2026](https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/03/anthropic-buys-biotech-startup-coefficient-bio-in-400m-deal-reports/) 9. [Bloomberg, "AI Drug Discovery Could Transform Medicine, Isomorphic Labs President Says", 2 November 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-02/isomorphic-labs-president-says-ai-will-design-all-drugs-one-day) 10. [TIKR, "Musk Predicts 'Banger Drugs Coming Out' from Eli Lilly", 2 November 2026](https://www.tikr.com/blog/musk-predicts-banger-drugs-coming-out-from-eli-lilly) 11. [Eli Lilly, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 3 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000059478) --- Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly pay Anthropic and other AI labs for drug tools; no AI-designed drug is approved — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/novo-nordisk-and-eli-lilly-pay-anthropic-and-other-ai-labs-for-drug-tools-no-ai-designed-drug-is-approved