DrugBank Launches Advisory Board to Guide AI Adoption in Biopharma

EDMONTON, AB, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - DrugBank, the structured intelligence graph for biopharma, today announced the formation of its Advisory Board to provide expert, cross-disciplinary guidance as the industry navigates a critical period for AI adoption.

AI investment across biopharma is at record levels, but the necessary data infrastructure is lagging. The decisions companies make in the next twelve months to address that gap will determine which programs succeed and which competitors reach market first. These efforts also carry meaningful financial implications, whether accelerating paths to revenue or avoiding costly late-stage failures.

Susan Roberts, a member of DrugBank's Board of Directors and Vice President of Research, PharmSci, and PDT R&D Data, Digital, and Technology at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, will serve as Lead of the Advisory Board, translating board priorities into focused areas of advisor engagement. Inaugural members also include Dr. Andrée Bates and Dr. Mike Branson, two highly respected leaders whose experience spans global pharma, advanced analytics, and applied AI.

"Biopharma is making significant investments in AI, but outcomes will ultimately depend on the quality of the underlying data," said Lisa Downey, CEO of DrugBank. "Models and agents are only as strong as the data they operate on and that remains a persistent challenge across the industry. The leaders on our Advisory Board have built and applied AI inside global pharmaceutical organizations. They've seen exactly where the data breaks down. That's the experience this moment demands."

Dr. Andrée Bates is a Neuroscientist and founder of Eularis, a firm that helps biopharma leaders turn AI and emerging technology into measurable commercial impact, from strategy and implementation, to capability building. She works at the intersection of clinical science, AI, and life sciences strategy. Over more than 20 years, she has advised leading global pharmaceutical organizations on using data and AI to drive smarter decision-making and has led hundreds of AI implementations across the value chain for the top 20 pharma companies.

"In an AI-first world, the credibility of the data is the differentiator," said Dr. Bates. "DrugBank's long-standing investment in structured, traceable, and expert-validated data provides a foundation that biopharma organizations can trust. That kind of 'credibility layer' is essential as AI becomes more deeply embedded in scientific and medical workflows."

Dr. Mike Branson, SVP Biometrics and Data Science at UCB, with more than 25 years developing and delivering innovation and transformation at scale, brings a deep understanding and practitioner's perspective on the realities of AI adoption within large pharmaceutical organizations. His remit spans from early research through to launch enablement, as well as oversight of AI and machine learning innovation initiatives through an incubator hub.

"Across the industry, there's strong ambition around AI, but translating that into real scientific and clinical impact remains a challenge," said Dr. Branson. "Delivering on that promise requires more than general-purpose AI tools. It depends on high-quality, well-structured data and a clear understanding of how those systems are applied in practice. That's where DrugBank plays a critical role."

ABOUT DRUGBANK

DrugBank is the intelligence operating system for the biopharma industry, powering drug development research for R&D, clinical, and portfolio teams. Our structured intelligence graph is the most trusted and explainable map connecting drug, target, disease, and trial relationships. For more than two decades, DrugBank has been bridging AI-enabled and expert-curated scientific data with commercial context in one unified experience. For more information, visit www.drugbank.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE DrugBank