Astellas Pharma

At its March 31, 2026 R&D Day, Astellas said NVIDIA's AI-powered supercomputing for small-molecule drug design has already been implemented.

In the same remarks, Astellas said gene therapy guided by AI will lead to precise organ targeting, reduced toxicity and enhanced treatment.

Astellas says it has been integrating AI into drug development since 2019 and that its Human-in-the-Loop platform, which combines human expertise, AI and robotics, is widely used in small- and medium-molecule discovery. The article says that by leveraging AI, employees have cut the time to refine a hit compound into a drug candidate by approximately 70% compared with traditional methods.

In the same R&D Day remarks, Astellas said it is introducing an AI-enabled protein station for research automation, as part of aiming to accelerate development of biopharmaceuticals and improve productivity.

Astellas said that using Evinova's AI-native Study Designer will enable it to design more sophisticated, patient-centered clinical trials efficiently. In the question session, the R&D head described that study designer as a platform on which AI agents discuss protocol design.

Partners: Evinova

In the same R&D Day question session, Astellas said each team is already using AI to generate clinical study reports. The same answer says AI translation has sped translation of clinical-trial documents, with human confirmation still required.

Astellas says it actively uses artificial intelligence, automation and data science to optimize manufacturing processes, enhance quality management and improve operational efficiency. It says it is introducing work-support tools that use generative AI and data mining, and digital twins to simulate manufacturing processes and supply chains.

Astellas and YASKAWA Electric signed an agreement to establish a joint venture that will develop a cell-therapy manufacturing platform using the Maholo robot. The planned business includes optimizing the digitized manufacturing process with AI and building a platform that meets GMP conditions. Establishment was subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Partners: YASKAWA Electric Corporation