NioNTech SE to acquire Britsh AI start-up InstaDeep

On 10 January, BioNTech SE formally agreed to acquire British artificial intelligence (AI) startup InstaDeep in a deal that is valued at up to £562 million.

 Founded in 2014 and headquartered along Merchant Square in London, InstaDeep is a developer of an in-house decision-making platform that is capable of retaining talent and providing training. Its systems cover numerous industries including biology, logistics, electronic design, and energy. The company follows a 4-step process for its clients, which entails defining the problem, piloting the system, implementing the solution, and providing after-service support. While the business has three key technology chains, the most relevant one for BioNTech would be the DeepChain. With its AI language models, DeepChain is able to identify protein sequences in mere minutes and discover new protein designs that are validated with its molecular dynamic’s simulations.

BioNTech, which is now a familiar name post-Covid-19, focuses on cancer therapeutics and vaccines. In January last year, the business in partnership with InstaDeep developed a computational method to analyse worldwide available sequencing data and predict high-risk variants of Covid-19. This AI-based method proved effective, having identified over 90% of World Health Organization (WHO)-designated variants. This development was part of a bigger collaboration between the two parties to coalesce AI and immunology. As part of that collaboration, a joint AI Innovation Lab was formed in London and Mainz to advance novel drug discovery and design.

In what will be BioNTech’s largest acquisition to date, the business will pay part cash and part stock for a total upfront amount of £362mn. Based on InstaDeep’s performance in the future, there will be up to £200mn in conditional payments. "Our goal with the acquisition is to integrate AI seamlessly in all aspects of our work - from target discovery, lead discovery to manufacturing and delivery of our products," said BioNTech’s co-founder and CEO Ugur Sahin. “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,” said Karim Beguir, co-founder, and CEO of InstaDeep.

The transaction follows InstaDeep’s $100mn Series B round led by BioNTech alongside other key investors including Alpha Intelligence Capital and Deutsche Bahn. It is testament to the deep cooperation between the two companies and BioNTech’s belief in an AI-driven future. The transaction is expected to close in H12023, subject to regulatory approvals. Once complete, InstaDeep will operate as a UK-based global subsidiary of BioNTech.

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