Moderna and OpenAI have announced an ongoing collaboration aimed at exploring the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in revolutionising both business and healthcare. Moderna, a company with a strong digital foundation and a history of utilising machine learning, is looking to integrate generative AI into its operations. This partnership reflects Moderna's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies to drive innovation responsibly. By combining Moderna's expertise in data-driven approaches with OpenAI's advancements in AI, the collaboration aims to unlock new opportunities in healthcare and beyond.
Moderna's AI Evolution: From mChat to ChatGPT Enterprise
In early 2023, Moderna and OpenAI launched mChat, Moderna's own instance of ChatGPT, built on OpenAI's API. With over 80% internal adoption, mChat's success spurred an AI culture at Moderna, leading to the deployment of ChatGPT Enterprise. This enterprise version offers enhanced capabilities like Advanced Analytics, Image Generation, and purpose-built GPTs integrated across Moderna's functions, aiding employees with personalised support. These tools complement Moderna's team, enabling them to advance their mission of delivering impactful mRNA medicines. Moderna's CEO, Stéphane Bancel, highlights the transformative potential of AI, emphasising shared values and research-driven approaches between Moderna and OpenAI. OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, commends Moderna for empowering its employees with AI and expresses eagerness to continue collaborating to benefit patients.
Instigating an AI-focused culture to lead the future of biotechnology
Moderna underscores the importance of fostering an AI-focused culture alongside technology integration for successful work innovation. Their commitment to learning and real-time AI training has earned them recognition, ranking 9th on LinkedIn's Top Companies List in the US and 2nd in Healthcare for 2024. They credit this success to their skilled, adaptable workforce, empowered by AI. Moderna plans to continue their collaboration with OpenAI, leading AI innovation in biotechnology. Partnering with OpenAI since early 2023, Moderna has deployed ChatGPT Enterprise company-wide, empowering every function with AI capabilities, leading to novel use cases and accelerating team impact. Moderna, at the forefront of science, technology, and health for over a decade, aims to maximise their impact through mRNA medicines, exemplified by their COVID-19 vaccine breakthrough. Their partnership with OpenAI is evolving how Moderna operates across all functions, aligning with their ambition to bring 15 new products to market in the next 5 years. Adopting a people-centric, technology-forward approach, Moderna continually explores innovations to enhance human capacity and clinical performance.
Embracing Generative AI for Patient Impact
Moderna embraced generative AI as part of its broader digital strategy to maximise positive patient impact. They aimed for 100% adoption and proficiency within six months, prioritising user-centric approaches and investing in foundational change. Their bespoke transformation programme involved dedicated experts and a combination of individual, collective, and structural change management initiatives.
Individual initiatives included research, training, and AI learning companions. Collective efforts identified top AI users as internal champions, fostering a culture of learning through local office hours and forums. Structural changes engaged leadership and incentivized AI culture through meetings, events, and sponsorship programmes. This approach yielded early success with mChat, an internal AI chatbot, achieving over 80% adoption. Built on OpenAI's API, mChat laid the groundwork for the adoption of ChatGPT Enterprise, marking a significant milestone in Moderna's AI journey.
Moderna's Strategic Shift: Elevating Innovation with ChatGPT Enterprise
Following the launch of ChatGPT Enterprise, Moderna faced a choice: whether to continue developing mChat or provide access to ChatGPT Enterprise. Brice Challamel, Head of AI Products and Platforms, led extensive user testing comparing the options. ChatGPT Enterprise emerged as the clear favourite, boasting a remarkable net promoter score. Moderna decided to focus on enhancing ChatGPT Enterprise. With employees empowered to create their own GPTs easily, the potential for innovation became limitless. Challamel expressed their goal to ignite creativity rather than simply provide a tool. The widespread adoption of ChatGPT Enterprise led to an impressive outcome within two months: 750 GPTs were created, with 40% of weekly active users generating their own instances. On average, each user engaged in 120 ChatGPT Enterprise conversations per week, surpassing expectations and showcasing the revolutionary impact of the tool across teams at Moderna.
Revolutionising Clinical Development with Dose ID
Moderna is actively developing and validating various solutions with ChatGPT Enterprise, including a pilot project named Dose ID. This GPT aims to review and analyse clinical data, integrating and visualising large datasets to assist the clinical study team in their decision-making process. Meklit Workneh, Director of Clinical Development at Moderna, highlights Dose ID's role in providing a supportive rationale for dose selection, creating customised data visualisations, and facilitating multi-angle data analysis through interaction with the GPT. Dose ID utilises ChatGPT Enterprise's advanced data analysis feature to automate analysis and verify optimal vaccine dose selection, adhering to standard criteria and principles. It generates informative charts and references sources to facilitate detailed human-led review, prioritising safety and vaccine optimisation before advancing to late-stage clinical trials. Workneh emphasises Dose ID's potential to enhance team productivity by efficiently evaluating vast amounts of data while ensuring accuracy, safety, and privacy.
Empowering Teams: Moderna's Success with AI Across Legal and Branding
Moderna's legal team has achieved full adoption of ChatGPT Enterprise, allowing them to focus on patient-centric matters. Shannon Klinger, Chief Legal Officer, emphasises the tool's efficiency in freeing up time for impactful work. With features like Contract Companion GPT and Policy Bot GPT, various functions can access clear contract summaries and quick answers to internal policy queries.
Similarly, Moderna's corporate brand team leverages ChatGPT Enterprise for diverse purposes. They utilise GPTs to automate slide preparation for earnings calls and simplify biotech terminology for investor communications. Kate Cronin, Chief Brand Officer, highlights AI's role in expanding their perspective and tailoring communication for different audiences. This approach ensures effective storytelling and maximises engagement across various stakeholders.
Moderna views AI as integral to their ambitious plan of launching multiple products in the coming years, enabling them to innovate while maintaining a lean business model. CEO Bancel highlights AI's role in maximising patient impact with a smaller workforce, leveraging technology to scale operations. With a decade of investment in tech infrastructure and a culture of learning, Moderna attracts talent adept at adopting new technologies and prioritising AI-driven solutions. By enhancing efficiency and accuracy, AI improves business processes, ultimately leading to better patient outcomes. Bancel expresses gratitude to OpenAI for their collaboration, emphasising the shared goal of saving lives through innovation.
Source & Image Credit: Moderna x OpenAI
