Shares in pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca (AZN) edged higher today after striking a $555 million deal with U.S. biotech Algen Biotechnologies to develop AI-powered drugs.
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Gene Therapy
Under the deal, AstraZeneca will gain exclusive rights to develop and commercialize gene therapies from Algen’s AI-driven AlgenBrain platform targeting immune system-related disorders.
Algen will receive an upfront payment from AstraZeneca, and additional payments upon the achievement of specific development, regulatory and commercial milestones, with a potential total deal value of $555 million.
AlgenBrain captures billions of dynamic changes in human genes and maps these with disease progression. The platform has the potential to identify novel genes that, when therapeutically targeted, may reverse disease processes.
AstraZeneca has been advancing its cell and gene therapy capabilities through acquisitions and partnerships as it works toward its target of $80 billion in sales by 2030. Its progress towards that target can be seen above.
Effective Medicines
The drugmaker in March agreed to buy Belgian biotech EsoBiotec for up to $1 billion, gaining access to technology that modifies immune cells directly inside the body. It aims to speed up progress in cell therapy for cancer and immune diseases.
“Together with AstraZeneca’s deep expertise in translational science and clinical development, we aim to uncover new biological insights to accelerate the development of novel therapies,” said Chun-Hao Huang, Ph.D., CEO & Co-Founder, Algen Biotechnologies.
Jim Weatherall Ph.D., Chief Data Scientist, Biopharmaceuticals R&D at AstraZeneca, said: “We are using AI and Machine Learning to enhance the discovery of new targets, which we believe will help to create more effective medicines.”
Algen was spun out from the lab at UC Berkeley, where biochemist Jennifer Doudna pioneered the CRISPR gene technology that won her the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020. She serves as an adviser to Algen.
Is AZN a Good Stock to Buy Now?
On TipRanks, AZN has a Strong Buy consensus based on 4 Buy ratings. Its highest price target is $97. AZN stock’s consensus price target is $93.25, implying an 8.10% upside.
