Moderna (MRNA +2.08%) and OpenAI are collaborating to bring artificial intelligence (AI) to every level of the biotech's operations, and the implications could perhaps be significant for investors. If the lofty claims made by others in the biotech industry are true, the company could see a smattering of benefits that ultimately enable it to capture more earnings. And, at a time when its coronavirus vaccine revenue is no longer enough to make the stock as appealing as it once was, Moderna shareholders are doubtless eager for good news.
But will this collaboration live up to the potential that others have theorized? Let's look at a few of the details to find out.
NASDAQ: MRNA
Key Data Points
What's the focus of the collaboration?
So far, Moderna has used different iterations of OpenAI's ChatGPT for a plethora of different purposes internally, and as much as 80% of employees use it. Supposedly there are more than 750 customized "GPTs" running in its internal ecosystem, which could indicate that many employees are using more than one AI tool every day. The most important task being handled right now uses a custom GPT called Dose ID GPT to help researchers select the appropriate vaccine dose for advancing into clinical trials.
Lest you assume such a task is trivial, keep in mind that in order to get regulators at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on board with a company's clinical trial proposals, it needs to use its internal data to make a compelling argument for why it wants to test each dosage for every vaccine it wants to test.
Speaking from experience, preparing such documentation can be extraordinarily time-consuming and tedious under the best of conditions. It also tends to occupy employees and leaders from diverse functions, including legal and regulatory compliance, clinical operations, research, development, manufacturing, and management, often all at once. So if a computer can quickly create a draft proposal using the biotech's data, it would be very helpful, even if the proposal still required some hands-on time from humans to touch up.
Moderna's legal and regulatory employees have also rapidly adopted the technology for use in checking contracts. Furthermore, it offers employees a custom chatbot to check whether what they want to do is covered and in compliance with internal policy. The investor relations department is reportedly using AI to create slides for its earnings announcements, too. In other words, this biotech is rapidly becoming an AI-assisted business, and it's just getting started.
The benefits could take a while to become apparent
As great as integrating AI sounds, investors should be aware that any benefits to Moderna's earnings that accrue as a result of using AI will probably not start to do so immediately.
Increasing internal efficiency in navigating everyday work, especially for dreaded tasks, is no doubt positive. But it doesn't translate directly into more sales revenue, nor does it make the company's clinical trials more likely to succeed, at least not with the current implementation.
And while slashing time spent on certain tasks means that employees and laboratory hardware will be freed up for their primary intended purposes, it isn't as though Moderna is drowning in overhead costs. Nor has management offered any financial estimates about the impact of using AI, at least not yet.
Nonetheless, it has a big future planned, with as many as 14 new vaccines slated for launch in the near term. As some of those programs are commercialized, investors may see Moderna's research and development (R&D) costs; its selling, general, and administrative (SG&A) expenses; and perhaps its cost of goods sold (COGS) all come in at smaller proportions of its revenue than what competitors (on average) can manage. That'd be a big green flag for the stock, and in due time, it might become a competitive advantage in low-cost biopharmaceutical development.
For now, the collaboration is not, in and of itself, a reason to buy Moderna stock. Nor is it a sign that you should go running to buy Microsoft stock to get more exposure to its stake in OpenAI. Both stocks are still worth buying, though, for the same reasons as always, rather than for this new development.
