Thermo Fisher CEO: AI lifts pharma spend, 7% by 2028

Casper's argument pushes back on a common worry in the industry: that as drug research moves online, AI could reduce the need for laboratory experiments. His answer is that more insight leads to more validation, because drugmakers will spend more money chasing a larger number of disease types with a given medicine. In his words, "AI - more spending, not less spending." Thermo Fisher had previously said AI could improve returns from drug discovery and encourage customers to invest more into their pipelines.

The company is also putting AI into its own operations, including the collaboration with OpenAI to speed up clinical trials and drug development. That partnership sits alongside the financial picture Casper laid out: about 4% organic growth expected in the second half of 2026, accelerating to 7% by 2028. He called the organic story going forward "very good." The outlook follows improving momentum in the second quarter, when revenue rose 10% to $11.99 billion and organic revenue was up 5%.

What the story ultimately hinges on is whether drugmakers really do redirect money saved from failed programs into more disease targets, as Casper expects, or whether AI instead trims overall research budgets. Lab-equipment suppliers and their investors are the ones with the most at stake in that answer, since Thermo Fisher's 2028 target leans on the more-spending outcome coming true.