SPAIN—Multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Bayer and its subsidiaries AskBio and Viralgen are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help develop new medicines.

The companies said the technology is now part of their work in laboratories, day-to-day operations, and clinical trials.

Viralgen Chief Executive Officer Jimmy Vanhove said the company, based in San Sebastian, Spain, designed its facility to capture as much data as possible for digital applications and ultimately for AI.

“Generally we all talk about the idea to improve productivity, so that's definitely what we're doing,” he said, noting that many tasks involve documentation, quality reviews, and regulatory compliance.

Viralgen specializes in the production of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors, which are used to deliver genetic material in gene therapy.

Vanhove explained that Viralgen’s platform approach generates large amounts of data with each run, which allows the company to build more intelligence around its processes.

As an example, he said they now use a “virtual bioreactor” to test parameters in a simulated setting and determine “where is the optimal to do a certain process step.”

AskBio CEO Gustavo Pesquin said AI is reshaping their work in two ways, through scientific research and daily operations.

AskBio develops gene therapies that aim to treat genetic disorders by delivering working copies of genes into patients’ cells using engineered viral vectors.

Pesquin said one research focus is capsid identification, or selecting the right protein shell to deliver genetic material into cells.

With the help of AI, he said researchers can test different options and determine the best match for specific organs and cargo sizes.

Pesquin also noted that AI is being applied to everyday tasks.

AskBio has experimented with using AI agents as “team members,” allowing them to generate their own takeaways from discussions.

Even in medical writing, Pesquin said, “AI can cut the time and cost in a breakthrough way.”

He acknowledged that AskBio is in a stronger position than smaller companies to adopt advanced AI tools, since many biotechs face resource limits.

“Bayer is very generous with us so we pulled a lot of the great investments that Bayer is making. So in a way, as a biotech company, we have access to AI tools that definitely the average company in the industry wouldn’t normally have,” he said.

“We are full-heartedly committed and humble to this change process we are in. It is irreversible and there is a before and after for the world with AI whether we like it or not,” he added.

Carolyn Sperl, Bayer’s Senior Research and Development Strategy and Portfolio Lead, said the advantages are also clear in oncology.

“One of our collaboration partners is ConcertAI, where we're able to access a lot of data from patient tumor samples and look at the biomarkers, which patients responded to certain kinds of therapy,” she said.

“Using AI we can just do that so much faster,” she added.

Meanwhile, Bayer’s Head of Oncology, Eduard Gasal, said AI’s benefits extend into late-stage development.

“When we go through the life cycle of the molecule to approval, there's AI impact, like when we do phase three trials, AI is helping to select the best trial design,” he said.

He added that beyond trial design, AI can even predict regulatory questions and help draft lengthy documents.

But for him, the biggest shift is in patient matching.

“AI is helping us to select the right sites, so it’s predicting where the right patient is at the same time,” Gasal said.

“So it’s really all together which makes the big difference,” he added.