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Orion Granted €10m to Build AI-Based ‘Research Ecosystem’ in Finland
Orion Pharma has announced plans to build a ‘pharmaceutical research ecosystem’ in Finland. The project is expected to take four years to create and will aim to use artificial intelligence (AI) and data processing techniques to accelerate the drug development cycle.
The company has said that they have received a grant of almost EUR 10 million from Finnish public agency Business Finland. Furthermore, they have reserved EUR 20 million for partners who would participate in the project.
The ethos of the ecosystem would be to allow multiple pharmaceutical companies, research institutions, and universities to share knowledge, expertise, and data with one another. The news comes a week after Orion’s 2023 Annual General Meeting.
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Commenting on the need for collaboration in the sector, Orion’s Head of Innovative Medicines, Outi Vaarala, said: “Finland has a great deal of high-level knowledge, but expertise is fragmented. By joining forces, Finnish pharmaceutical, biotechnology and technology companies, research institutes and universities can succeed in tough international competition. A well-functioning and thriving pharmaceutical research ecosystem will also attract talent and investment to Finland.”
Orion estimates that their initiative to pool the power of multiple Finnish pharma researchers could cut three years off the average development time of new innovative medicines. They said that they would facilitate the sharing of resources to create new data to validate novel predictive models using AI.
“Artificial intelligence-guided use of data is a competitive advantage when developing new innovative medicines. It improves the probability of success and shortens the discovery and development time significantly. The volume of knowledge is growing continuously, and its optimal use requires more resources and special expertise,” said Vaarala.
Orion markets their human and veterinary medicines in over a hundred countries. They currently focus their human pharmaceutical research and development in neurological disorders, oncology, and inhaled medicines.
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