BioNTech to acquire British AI start-up InstaDeep for about £562m
German vaccine maker seeks to speed up its biotech research beyond Covid-19 shots
10 January 2023 - 17:54
byLudwig Burger and Pratik Jain
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German vaccine maker BioNTech has agreed to acquire the British artificial intelligence (AI) start-up InstaDeep for up to £562m to speed up its biotech research beyond Covid-19 shots.
In its largest takeover deal to date, BioNTech is to pay £362m upfront, in a mix of cash and an unspecified number of BioNTech shares, and up to £200m contingent on InstaDeep’s future performance, it said on Tuesday.
The transaction adds to a slew of deals as the industry meets in San Francisco for the annual JPMorgan healthcare conference this week.
With estimated Covid-19 vaccine revenues of up to €17bn in 2022 alone, BioNTech is well funded to advance its work on new cancer immunotherapies and on other vaccines, and AI will play a growing role.
BioNTech was part of a group of investors who participated in a $100m financing round at InstaDeep a year ago. It declined to say precisely how much it had invested then or what share of InstaDeep it held.
“Our aim is to make BioNTech a technology company where AI is seamlessly integrated into all aspects of our work,” said co-founder and CEO Ugur Sahin.
BioNTech said it was already involved in dozens of joint projects with InstaDeep, including efforts unveiled last year to quickly determine whether a new coronavirus variant is a cause for concern.
InstaDeep, with about 240 staff, will continue to provide its AI and machine learning services to other companies, including Google and Nvidia, the statement added.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
BioNTech to acquire British AI start-up InstaDeep for about £562m
German vaccine maker seeks to speed up its biotech research beyond Covid-19 shots
German vaccine maker BioNTech has agreed to acquire the British artificial intelligence (AI) start-up InstaDeep for up to £562m to speed up its biotech research beyond Covid-19 shots.
In its largest takeover deal to date, BioNTech is to pay £362m upfront, in a mix of cash and an unspecified number of BioNTech shares, and up to £200m contingent on InstaDeep’s future performance, it said on Tuesday.
The transaction adds to a slew of deals as the industry meets in San Francisco for the annual JPMorgan healthcare conference this week.
With estimated Covid-19 vaccine revenues of up to €17bn in 2022 alone, BioNTech is well funded to advance its work on new cancer immunotherapies and on other vaccines, and AI will play a growing role.
BioNTech was part of a group of investors who participated in a $100m financing round at InstaDeep a year ago. It declined to say precisely how much it had invested then or what share of InstaDeep it held.
“Our aim is to make BioNTech a technology company where AI is seamlessly integrated into all aspects of our work,” said co-founder and CEO Ugur Sahin.
BioNTech said it was already involved in dozens of joint projects with InstaDeep, including efforts unveiled last year to quickly determine whether a new coronavirus variant is a cause for concern.
InstaDeep, with about 240 staff, will continue to provide its AI and machine learning services to other companies, including Google and Nvidia, the statement added.
Reuters
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