AstraZeneca agrees to acquire Modella AI to speed oncology drug development

Yahoo
Yahoo
4h ago
AstraZeneca agreed to acquire Boston-based Modella AI to integrate its AI models and agents into AstraZeneca’s oncology clinical development processes and speed drug development.
AstraZeneca agrees to acquire Modella AI to speed oncology drug development
A What happened
AstraZeneca agreed to acquire Boston-based Modella AI as part of a strategy to speed drug development across its oncology pipeline. The financial terms were undisclosed, and the deal builds on a collaboration that began with a research agreement in July 2025. AstraZeneca CFO Aradhana Sarin said AI is helping drive outcomes, boost efficiency and productivity, and accelerate innovation with measurable impact. Sarin said 16% oncology growth in the first nine months of 2025 increased confidence in reaching AstraZeneca’s $80bn total revenue target by 2030.
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Key insights

  • 1

    Pharma companies are increasing AI-focused partnerships and investments: Eli Lilly and NVIDIA are set to establish a San Francisco Bay-based co-innovation lab with shared investment of up to $1bn to advance drug discovery using AI, and GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood highlighted AI collaborations as key to early-stage R&D.

  • 2

    AstraZeneca is positioning ADCs as a revenue growth area: Sarin said AstraZeneca has eight wholly owned ADC assets in clinical development, and a 2024 GlobalData report forecast the ADC market will exceed $40bn by 2029.

Takeaways

AstraZeneca is expanding AI integration in oncology R&D through its planned acquisition of Modella AI while advancing oncology and cardiometabolic pipeline programs and managing revenue pressure from loss of exclusivity.

Topics

Technology & Innovation Artificial Intelligence Business & Markets Mergers & Acquisitions Health & Medicine Pharma & Biotech

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