Artificial intelligence is transforming the development of new drugs. Traditional drug creation processes are often slow and costly, with preclinical stages taking several years. However, many pharmaceutical companies today are turning to advanced technologies that can expedite everything from molecule simulation to the generation of synthesis pathways.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind Ozempic, now has access to a valuable tool to help in its drug development known as Gefion, a Nvidia DGX SuperPOD AI data center infrastructure. This supercomputer is equipped with 1,528 Nvidia Tensor Core GPUs and is interconnected via Nvidia Quantum-2 InfiniBand networks.
Gefion: A Powerful Supercomputer for Novo Nordisk
The DGX SuperPOD data centers serve as turnkey solutions, enabling customers to access high-performance computing with minimal complications. This project includes hardware from Nvidia and various software solutions that empower researchers to focus on their work.
Eviden, the company responsible for assembling Gefion, claims the supercomputer is set to become one of the most powerful AI machines in the world. In fact, at the time of publication, it holds the title of the most powerful supercomputer in Denmark. Interestingly, sustainability was a key consideration in developing this project. It operates on 100% renewable energy.
Gefion features 40 miles of cables and weighs approximately 30 tons. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, King Frederik of Denmark, and Nadia Carslten, CEO of the Danish Center for AI Innovation (DCAI), symbolically plugged in the AI supercomputer at an event held in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
From left to right: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, DCAI CEO Nadia Carlsten, and King Frederick of Denmark
The DCAI will manage and operate Denmark’s first AI supercomputer. While Novo Nordisk plans to utilize it, it doesn’t fully own it. The DCAI is funded by both the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which contributes around $87 million, and the Danish Export and Investment Fund, which provides about $14.5 million.
A Nvidia H100 Grace Hopper GPU
The initiative is a collaboration between the public and private sectors and aims to support Denmark’s innovation landscape. Notably, Novo Nordisk stands out as the most valuable publicly listed company in Europe, surpassing major players like LVMH, a conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, and ASML, a Dutch multinational corporation known for developing advanced semiconductor manufacturing machines.
It’s important to note that Gefion isn’t intended solely for advancements in the pharmaceutical industry. DCAI aims to drive research “across all organizations and industries.” This supercomputer’s hardware and software are well-equipped to support quantum computing, biotechnology, and energy projects.
For instance, the University of Copenhagen will work on large-scale distributed simulations of quantum algorithms to analyze molecular recognition processes. Meanwhile, the Danish Meteorological Institute will focus on atmospheric predictions using intelligent environmental networks. Additionally, the Technical University of Denmark will leverage the supercomputer to enhance multimodal genomic foundation models.
Image | Danish Centre for AI Innovation/Novo Nordisk Foundation | Nvidia
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