This week on The Friday Brief, we’ve seen a burst in AI-driven activity, from the Top 20 pharma companies on down to smaller startups. Let’s dive in.

AstraZeneca is licensing Owkin’s AI Scientist, K Pro, to help build biopharma agents to gain data-rich insights. Boehringer Ingelheim will engage the AI-powered imaging tools of Brainomix to improve care for patients with progressive pulmonary fibrosis. Charles River Labs is rolling out an end-to-end AI-powered workflow.

IQVIA will integrate its AI-enabled clinical trial capabilities in a biosimilar development and commercialization collaboration with Kexing Biopharm. Ribo and Insilico Medicine are partnering on siRNA drug development. AOP Health has engaged VRG Therapeutics and its AI-driven miniprotein development for I&I indications. And on the automation side, Cellares and ProTgen are going to automate manufacturing and quality control of an experimental T-cell therapy.

Numerous companies this week advanced plans to expand. Lilly is investing $4.5 billion in two of its sites in Indiana. Piramal Pharma Solutions has launched a payload-linker development and manufacturing suite at its Michigan drug substance facility. Vetter has broken ground on a new injectable production site in Germany. Avalere Health is launching a new office in Tokyo. And the clinical research organization Icon has opened a new unit for just that purpose in San Antonio, plus outpatient clinics in Houston and Kansas.

Finally, one acquisition of note, OrganaBio has acquired the operating assets of Excellos.

Another busy week—and we’ll be back here before you know it next Friday for a holiday weekend version of The Friday Brief.