Bio Meets AI As BioNTech Set To Acquire Tunisia's InstaDeep Completely
Artificial Intelligence is not becoming just a trend but also a norm. From learning assistance, work assistance, health crisis detection, and now to pharmaceutical development, AI is claiming its space in every sector. It is in this light that BioNTech is set to acquire Tunisian AI startup, InstaDesp.The Biopharmaceutical company is intent on bringing artificial intelligence fully Into its research and pre-production activities.
Instead of partnering with InstaDeep or seeking its services, BioNTech’s decision to fully acquire InstaDeep follows its investment in the Tunisia-based startup last year. Following the acquisition, BioNTech will be onboarding some of Instadeep’s features in its preproduction and production activities such as optimized pattern recognition, GPU-accelerated insights, and self-learning decision-making systems.
InstaDeep was founded in Tunisia in 2015, the startup has been able to maximize 3 web solutions on its website which are SSL, Java, and Hosting. The maximization of these tools has been able to pull traction for the start-up thereby attaining significant recognition within its location of operation.
The based AI startup has been active within the North African nation. In the previous year, the startup was able to raise Series B funding, the funding had the participation of various investors, such as AI Capital, Google, BioNTech, and a few others. The Series B funding was to the tune of $100 million. In total the startup has been able to raise funding to the tune of $107 million.
Although the startup is headquartered in London, it is active in other locations such as Lagos, Dubai, Cape Town, and Paris. Through InstaDeep AI services, various organizations have been able to provide easier patterns to their activities, essentially logistics companies, e-commerce startups, and educational institutions. They have been able to maximize InstaDeep AI technology, and now the tech-bio pharmaceutical company will be making great use of this AI technology.
The German biotechnology company revealed it was acquiring the startup for $684 million but will be making an upfront transaction of $440 million in cash. The acquisition fees paid to give the biotech company the ability to acquire 100% of the AI startup’s shares.
This acquisition deal supports BioNTech’s plan to develop world-class AI-driven drug discovery research. This will propel the discoveries of immunotherapies and vaccines that will tackle diseases whose cure has not been met by medicine.
According to reports InstaDeep CEO, Karim Beguir, stated, “e envision building a world leader that combines biopharmaceutical research and AI with the aim to design next-generation immunotherapies that enhance medical care thus, helping fight cancer and other diseases.”
He continued by saying “AI is progressing exponentially and our mission at InstaDeep has always been to make sure it benefits everyone. We are very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech, with whom we share the same culture of deep tech innovation and focus on positive human impact,”
BioNTech has been playing a significant role in vaccine discovery over the years. The biotech company was part of the prominent biopharmaceutical companies that were actively searching for vaccines for COVID-19. BioNTech was part of the team that successfully concluded phase 3 on volunteer candidates.