Lundbeck Partners with DCAI to Leverage Gefion for AI-Driven Brain Health Research
VALBY, Denmark, May 7, 2025 -- H. Lundbeck A/S has announced its agreement with the Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI), the company established to run and operate Gefion, Denmark's flagship AI supercomputer. Lundbeck is one of the first pharmaceutical companies to leverage Gefion to accelerate drug discovery and development in neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Gefion, Denmark's flagship AI supercomputer. Credit: DCAI.
Brain disorders are estimated to affect half the world's population, significantly impairing quality of life. Despite scientific advancements, there are still high unmet needs within brain health, and many patients have limited options for treatment. By leveraging Gefion's unparalleled AI computational power, Lundbeck aims to enhance and expedite the discovery of next-generation treatments.
Lundbeck expects that Gefion will contribute to advancing research by providing AI-driven insights into molecule discovery and drug optimization in the development of therapies. By exploring innovative avenues for molecule discovery, Lundbeck aims to identify novel and better medicines for known drug targets as well as unlocking emerging drug targets to deliver new treatment options for people living with brain disorders, including rare and specialist-treated neurological conditions.
Senior Vice President & Head of Research at Lundbeck, Tarek Samad, emphasized the significance of AI-driven innovation and drug discovery in Lundbeck's Focused Innovator strategy: "We are excited to be among the pioneers utilizing Gefion's AI supercomputing power. The advanced computational capabilities of Gefion come with the promise of potentially allowing us to push the boundaries of tackling brain diseases and develop treatments at an unprecedented pace."
"It's an exciting milestone for us to work with such a big customer and innovator in the pharmaceutical space like Lundbeck," said Nadia Carlsten, CEO of the Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI). "We've been maturing Gefion since its launch just a few months ago, and to see its computing power now helping Lundbeck's scientists uncover new treatment pathways more efficiently is very rewarding. This agreement has the potential to accelerate the timeline for bringing impactful neurological therapies to patients."
Advancing Neuroscience with AI-Powered Research
Senior Vice President of Global IT at Lundbeck, Claus Thomsen, noted the key role of AI in Lundbeck's IT strategy: "Working together with DCAI marks an important step towards transforming brain disease research by employing AI. Providing our researchers with access to Gefion and the state-of-the-art software stack opens the opportunity to leverage the fast-evolving development of AI-driven analysis and large-scale simulations. This supports our strategy to harness the power of AI for the benefit of our patients."
The agreement between DCAI and Lundbeck is a significant milestone in relation to applying Gefion's potential in pharmaceutical research and development. Other companies are already employing Gefion for projects spanning foundational AI research, human-centric healthcare solutions, and pharmaceutical and biotech innovation, as well as initiatives within other industries.
"As AI reshapes industries, Gefion stands at the forefront of revolutionizing research and innovation. Together with Lundbeck we can demonstrate the game-changing potential of AI supercomputing in tackling some of the world's most urgent healthcare challenges," said Nadia Carlsten, CEO of the Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI).
About H. Lundbeck A/S
Lundbeck is a biopharmaceutical company focusing exclusively on brain health. With more than 70 years of experience in neuroscience, the company is committed to improving the lives of people with neurological and psychiatric diseases. Brain disorders affect a large part of the world's population, and the effects are felt throughout society. With the rapidly improving understanding of the biology of the brain, Lundbeck holds itself accountable for advancing brain health by curiously exploring new opportunities for treatments. As a focused innovator, Lundbeck strives for its research and development programs to tackle some of the most complex neurological challenges. Lundbeck develops transformative medicines targeting people for whom there are few or no treatments available, expanding into neuro-specialty and neuro-rare from the company's strong legacy within psychiatry and neurology. Lundbeck is committed to fighting stigma and the company acts to improve health equity. Lundbeck strives to create long term value for our shareholders by making a positive contribution to patients, their families and society as a whole. Lundbeck has approximately 5,500 employees in more than 50 countries and our products are available in more than 80 countries.
About DCAI
The Danish Centre for AI Innovation (DCAI) owns and operates Gefion, Denmark's flagship AI supercomputer, designed specifically for large-scale AI projects. Gefion ranks among the most powerful supercomputers globally powered by 1.528 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs. DCAI's mission is to lower the barrier for accessing advanced computing capabilities, enabling customers to innovate and fostering ecosystem growth. DCAI customers include academic researchers, startups, government institutions, and enterprise customers doing large scale innovation. DCAI was formed as a company and funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and EIFO in 2024.
Source: Lundbeck
