BioNTech to fully acquire AI company InstaDeep
Summary
BIONTECH is fully acquiring artificial intelligence (AI) provider InstaDeep in a deal worth about £562m (US$685.9m) to help the biotech firm discover drugs. BioNTech’s acquisition will support the company’s strategy to build capabilities in AI-driven drug discovery and development of next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines, to address diseases with high unmet medical need. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of this year, at which point InstaDeep – headquartered in the UK – will begin to operate as a UK-based subsidiary of global company BioNTech. InstaDeep will become the centrepiece in a growing portfolio of initiatives around AI and machine learning at BioNTech, while continuing to provide services to clients around the world in diverse industries. Ugur Sahin, CEO of BioNTech, said: “The acquisition of InstaDeep allows us to incorporate the rapidly evolving AI capabilities of the digital world into our technologies, research, drug discovery, manufacturing, and deployment processes.