AI x Biopharma
AI in Biopharma Isn’t Hype — It’s a $9.7B Deal Table
AI is no longer a buzzword in life sciences. It’s powering billion-dollar partnerships in drug discovery, design, and target identification. Here’s what the data says—and what it means for founders and investors in deep tech.
In 2024, the question isn’t “Will AI transform drug development?”
It’s: “Are you on the right side of the next term sheet?”
According to IQVIA’s Pharma Deals Jan 2025 report, we saw over $9.7 billion in AI/ML transactions in life sciences last year—across 12 deals valued over $200M. And no, these weren’t shiny diagnostic pilots or token AI partnerships. These were deals at the heart of biopharma innovation:
• Drug discovery
• Drug design
• Target identification
The kind of work that traditionally took a decade, hundreds of millions, and an army of PhDs. Now? It’s getting accelerated, validated—and funded—by the industry’s biggest names.
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The Deals That Matter
Let’s talk headlines. A few standouts from 2024:
• Isomorphic Labs + Lilly: $1.7B for small molecule discovery
• Isomorphic Labs + Novartis: $1.2B—same platform, new partner
• Dyno Therapeutics + Roche: $1.05B for AAV vector design
• Nabla Bio + BMS, AstraZeneca, Takeda: $550M for protein engineering
• Relation + GSK: $508M for AI-based target ID
• Ochre Bio + Boehringer Ingelheim: $1.03B for regenerative medicine
In total:
• Drug discovery = $5.49B across 5 deals
• Drug design = $3.16B across 5 deals
• Target ID = $1.06B across 2 deals
And that’s just what cleared the $200M disclosure threshold.
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For Founders: Enterprise Value Is Being Rewritten
Founders in AI & life sciences—especially platform companies—need to recognize the shift:
• Revenue is no longer the only north star.
• Strategic fit, scalability, and scientific depth are being priced into deals.
• Buyers are no longer waiting for late-stage de-risking—they’re placing bets earlier.
Your valuation isn’t just a function of ARR. It’s a reflection of:
• Your platform’s ability to accelerate pipeline decisions
• Your data advantage and model uniqueness
• The potential to reduce R&D cycle times or improve success rates
Distribution isn’t only your own GTM—it’s access to their global R&D machine.
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For Investors: This Is Not Speculation
The capital here isn’t being funneled into “maybe” science.
This is Big Pharma writing billion-dollar checks for real platform technologies that solve for time, complexity, and failure risk in the most expensive part of the value chain.
• The buyers are real: Roche, Lilly, Novartis, GSK, Merck
• The science is integrated: not bolt-on AI, but native to the discovery process
• The risk calculus is shifting: earlier partnerships, richer payouts, more optionality
If you’re waiting for “proof,” you’re already late.
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Final Thought
AI isn’t on the sidelines anymore.
It’s not a layer on top of biotech.
It’s becoming the operating system of drug development.
And if you’re building—or backing—the future of medicine, now’s the time to think bigger, move faster, and align with the deal tables that are reshaping the next decade of innovation.
Curious how your platform or startup should position for this market?
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