Huawei Plans More AI Pharma Partnerships, Primarily with Chinese Drugmakers
William Zhang, president of Huawei’s healthcare business unit, has revealed that the company aims to forge more AI partnerships with pharmaceutical firms, focusing mainly on domestic Chinese drugmakers. Currently, they are engaged in various projects with these companies, ranging from drug manufacturing to clinical trials and final implementation.
"As we further deepen our research into AI in the medical field, we’ll have more collaboration and results emerging with pharmaceutical companies," Zhang stated.
Existing Collaborations and Future Directions
While Zhang mentioned existing collaborations without specific details, there is no set target number of partnerships or named prospective collaborators. The announcement sets a direction for future endeavors rather than providing an immediate roadmap.
One notable project involves a deal with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings, described as the industry’s first production validation of AI drug research models adapted to Huawei’s Ascend and Kunpeng chips. This collaboration, however, primarily involved porting existing software onto Huawei’s silicon, highlighting the infrastructure aspect of their contribution.
Huawei also possesses its own AI model, Pangu, released in 2021, which was developed with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This model predicts molecular binding to targets based on a vast dataset of 1.7 billion compounds. Additionally, they have an older partnership with Yunnan Baiyao dating back to 2022, where Huawei provides cloud and AI infrastructure while Yunnan Baiyao offers botanical compound libraries.
Competition and Context
In contrast, Nvidia has established significant partnerships with pharmaceutical giants like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, committing up to $1 billion over five years for AI co-innovation labs. The scale and scope of these deals stand in stark contrast to Huawei’s current pharma work, which includes a proof-of-concept ecosystem agreement and a four-year-old cooperation deal.
Huawei’s progress is supported by policy tailwinds. Biopharmaceuticals were identified as an emerging pillar industry in China’s government work report this year, and AI in pharmaceuticals is a key focus of the fifteenth five-year plan. A state-backed body has also been established to promote the sector, with Huawei listed among leading suppliers alongside Kingdee and XtalPi.