Why did OpenAI buy a drug development startup?

OpenAI acquired Orchestra Bio, a startup building AI agents that coordinate drug development. When a manufacturing batch fails, its agents find the affected trials, teams and timelines and lay out the options, while people make the final call. Getting one drug approved can take 10 to 15 years and cost more than $2.6 billion, and much of that time goes into trials, manufacturing and approvals rather than discovery. Orchestra joins Rosalind, OpenAI’s life sciences platform, so OpenAI now covers both the research and the work that follows. Anthropic made a similar move earlier this year when it bought Coefficient Bio. The bigger lesson for AI builders: slow, manual workflows in healthcare, insurance, manufacturing and logistics may be where the next big AI companies get built. #OpenAI #AIAgents #DrugDevelopment #AIinHealthcare #AIStartups