a16z Podcast/Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan on Transf...

How Novartis cut 6-month research from months to minutes using AI

Vasant Narasimhan, CEO at Novartis at Novartis on

a16z Podcast · Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan on Transforming a...

“And then we really it's really not and we weren't sure how it's gonna pay off.”

35:13 / 35:33

like six years ago, right? And then we really it's really not and we weren't sure how it's gonna pay off. And now I have, you know, 3,000 scientists on the Foundry platform, you know, picking the the right models to actually just go into our data lake and extract data that used to take six months and now it takes minutes. I mean, the the power here is is incredible. So we are absolutely, absolutely

About this clip

Novartis CEO explains how their AI platform called Foundry has transformed their research capabilities, with 3,000 scientists now using AI models to extract data from their data lake in minutes instead of the six months it used to take. He describes this as an incredible leap in pharmaceutical research efficiency that took years to develop and implement.

Why this clip

This clip demonstrates a concrete, measurable transformation of traditional pharmaceutical research through AI implementation at massive scale.

35:13 - 35:3320smarket insight

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Vasant Narasimhan

1 appearance · 6 clips

What they said next

Why the first AI-generated drug won't exist for another decade

33:18 - 29s · prediction

More from this episode

a16z Podcast · Vasant Narasimhan

Why Novartis had to break up its 250-year-old business model

Novartis CEO explains how running multiple business units with different economics forced strategic capital misallocation. He describes the tough trade-offs between optimizing their pharmaceutical business versus investing in generics and devices, ultimately leading to a major corporate restructuring.

6:34 - 7:0733s

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a16z Podcast · Vasant Narasimhan

How Novartis CEO unlocked $180 billion by breaking up a 250-year-old company

Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan explains how he transformed the pharmaceutical giant from a sprawling conglomerate into four focused companies through strategic spinoffs and divestitures. He details the spin-offs of Alcon and Sandoz, plus the sale of their Roche stake, which collectively unlocked nearly $180 billion in value.

5:26 - 5:4518s

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a16z Podcast · Vasant Narasimhan

Why the first AI-generated drug won't exist for another decade

Novartis CEO explains the harsh reality behind AI drug discovery hype - while everyone expects breakthrough results in two years, the first purely AI-generated drug candidate won't emerge for 8-10 years. He shares how Novartis is partnering with Isomorphic Labs to tackle previously 'undruggable' targets using AlphaFold technology.

33:18 - 33:4729s

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a16z Podcast · Vasant Narasimhan

Novartis CEO explains the radical rethink that transformed a 250-year-old pharma giant

Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan describes the strategic decision to transform the company into a pure-play biopharmaceuticals business. He explains how they exited the consumer health business through a GSK joint venture and focused on specific therapeutic areas they believed would have the greatest impact.

4:55 - 5:2631s

corporate-transformation business-focus pharma-strategy

a16z Podcast · Vasant Narasimhan

If we could get more platforms in place where you could just go right into a particular disease without having to recontract and redo everything, you could generate the data a lot faster. Those kind of networks need to get scaled if the US wants to remain competitive.

Identifies a specific bottleneck (contracting/IRB reviews) that slows US drug development and connects it to national competitiveness. Practical insight into regulatory reform with clear competitive implications.

43:12 - 43:3322s

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