Viva Biotech (01873.HK) saw its stock price surge by 5.15% during Friday's trading session, as investors react positively to the company's strong positioning in the burgeoning field of AI-driven drug development. This uptick comes amid growing interest and investment from major tech giants in artificial intelligence applications for pharmaceutical research.

The Hong Kong-based company has been at the forefront of integrating AI into drug discovery for the past five years. Viva Biotech reported that AI-related orders now constitute 12% of their newly signed contracts, with this proportion showing an upward trend. The firm is leveraging its expertise in structure-based drug development to transition towards a more comprehensive AI-driven drug design paradigm, potentially revolutionizing traditional drug discovery processes.

This stock movement aligns with broader industry trends, as tech behemoths like Alphabet, NVIDIA, and Google make significant investments in AI pharmaceutical companies. The sector has seen transactions exceeding $50 billion in total value over the past five years, according to Pharmcube statistics. Analysts from Shanxi Securities and Guojin Securities have highlighted the imminent breakthroughs in AI drug development, suggesting that companies with rich pipelines and strong execution capabilities, like Viva Biotech, are well-positioned to capitalize on this evolving landscape.