AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire Boston-based Modella AI to accelerate drug development across its oncology pipeline. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Modella AI’s multi-model foundational models and AI agents will be integrated into AstraZeneca’s clinical development processes, building on a research agreement that began in July 2025. “The oncology space is becoming more complex, more data-rich and more time-sensitive,” Modella AI CEO Gabi Raia said in a press release. Speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, AstraZeneca CFO and executive director Aradhana Sarin said, “AI is helping us drive outcomes, boost efficiency and productivity and accelerate innovation with measurable impact.”
The deal follows a wave of AI-focused partnerships in pharma, including Eli Lilly’s planned co-innovation lab with NVIDIA and recent AI collaborations highlighted by GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood.
AstraZeneca said 16% growth across oncology in the first nine months of 2025 has strengthened its confidence in reaching a $80 billion revenue target by 2030. Sarin said the company’s expanding portfolio is “more than offsetting the impact from loss of exclusivity” on several assets, including Brilinta (ticagrelor) and Soliris (eculizumab).
AstraZeneca reported a 33% decrease in Brilinta global revenue to $665 million for the first nine months of 2025 in its Q3 earnings report, attributing the decline to generic competition in the US and Europe and noting further patent expiries over the coming decade. Soliris also faces impending patent expiries, and AstraZeneca has reached settlements with Amgen and Samsung Bioepis for licensed biosimilar entries.
The company is targeting revenue growth from antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), with eight wholly owned ADC assets in clinical development. GlobalData forecast in 2024 that the ADC market could exceed $40 billion by 2029. AstraZeneca expects the first pivotal Phase III readout for the gastric cancer–indicated ADC sonesitatug vedotin (AZD0901) in the first half of 2026 (NCT06346392).
Beyond oncology, AstraZeneca is increasing investment in cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM) areas. The oral PCSK9 inhibitor laroprovstat is being studied in several pivotal Phase III trials, with data readouts expected in 2027 for two studies assessing LDL-C reduction (NCT07000123 and NCT07000136).
AstraZeneca also highlighted its weight-management pipeline, with three Phase II programmes slated for data readouts in the first half of 2026: the oral GLP-1 receptor agonist AZD5004 (NCT06579092), the amylin receptor–selective peptide AZD6234 (NCT06851858), and the dual glucagon and GLP-1 receptor agonist AZD9550 given in combination with AZD6234 (NCT06862791). “Our goal is to address weight management and cardiometabolic risk holistically and our broad pipeline uniquely positions us to explore innovative novel combinations,” Sarin said.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
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