Esben Jannik Bjerrum

Principal Research Scientist II, AI / ML Team Lead at AbbVie

Sweden

About me

Esben Jannik Bjerrum, PhD, is Principal Scientist II at AbbVie, where he works with deep learning, AI, and cheminformatics to accelerate drug discovery. Since 2016, Esben has driven several innovations in generative AI and molecular design, including the well-known SMILES enumeration method for data augmentation. He was a founder and core contributor to open-source tools such as AiZynthFinder, Chemformer, and Scikit-Mol and has published more than 55 scientific articles. Esben also shares his insights through his blog Cheminformania.com. Originally from Denmark and now based in Sweden, he enjoys building practical solutions from data science for real-world impact in pharma drug discovery.

Schedule

Panel Discussion: AI and Automation in Drug Discovery: From Hype to Real-World Breakthroughs – Can Innovation Keep Up with Regulation?

How close are we to AI-designed drugs reaching patients — and what’s still missing in validation and translation?
Are global frameworks agile enough to assess and approve discoveries driven by algorithms?
What real-world examples reveal the difference between AI hype and genuine productivity gains in discovery?
When AI suggests a molecule or pathway, who takes responsibility if it fails — the scientist, the system, or the sponsor?
How will AI, quantum computing, and automation converge to redefine timelines, talent, and trust in the pharma R&D ecosystem?