BioNTech buys UK AI start-up InstaDeep in £562mn deal
BioNTech has agreed to buy UK artificial intelligence start-up InstaDeep for up to £562mn in its biggest ever deal, as the German company expands beyond the Covid-19 vaccine that transformed its fortunes.
The biotech company is trying to harness machine learning to improve the drug discovery process, including developing personalised treatments tailored to a patient’s cancer.
The deal follows a multiyear collaboration with London-based InstaDeep that created an early warning system to predict future variants of the Sars CoV-2 virus. BioNTech invested in a £100mn fundraising round by InstaDeep last year.
InstaDeep was founded in 2014 to create artificial intelligence products for businesses. While headquartered in London, it has offices in Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai, and Cape Town and employs 240 people.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Hannah Kuchler
