SINGAPORE – Chipmaker Nvidia is linking up with US biopharmaceutical firm Pfizer and Singapore organisations to help global healthcare start-ups looking to expand in South-east Asia.
The two-year partnership will focus on creating new drugs through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning tools.
The tools can shorten development periods, analyse large amounts of raw data and provide quicker insights for these emerging businesses.
It is hoped that this in turn will foster the development of groundbreaking therapies, patient care and services, and advance precision medicine.
The programme also aims to use AI to match different parties, such as government, universities and accelerators in the region.
These activities will be carried out under the Ignition AI Accelerator programme, a joint project between Nvidia, Singapore-backed start-up accelerator Tribe and the Digital Industry Singapore (DISG).
The DISG – a joint office between the Economic Development Board, Enterprise Singapore and the Infocomm Media Development Authority – aims to build up the consumer technology and enterprise technology segments in the sector.
The programme also aims to develop AI capabilities in more industries.
Pfizer’s participation in the new initiative will allow it to assess how AI and machine learning can shorten the drug discovery process so that new medicines can hit the markets more quickly.
An example is its Covid-19 oral treatment.
The firm developed the drug and rendered it market-ready in just four months with the help of supercomputing and AI-driven simulations.
Tribe chief executive Ng Yi Ming said: “This approach reduced computational time by 80 per cent to 90 per cent, allowing researchers to rapidly screen millions of compounds and optimise them for drug efficacy.
“In addition, AI helped run clinical trials and analyse patient data 50 per cent faster than traditional methods.”
Pfizer’s estimates suggest the growth of
