AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire Boston-based Modella AI as part of a strategy to speed up drug development across its oncology pipeline.
The deal, the financial terms of which were undisclosed, will see Modella AI’s multi-model foundational models and AI agents further integrated into AstraZeneca’s clinical development processes, building on an existing collaboration. The two companies started working together via a research agreement in July 2025.
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The oncology space is becoming “more complex, more data-rich and more time-sensitive,” said Modella AI CEO Gabi Raia in a press release.
“AI is helping us drive outcomes, boost efficiency and productivity and accelerate innovation with measurable impact,” said AstraZeneca CFO and executive director Aradhana Sarin, while speaking at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference held in San Francisco from 12 to 15 January.
This is the latest in a series of recent AI-centred deals in the pharma space. Eli Lilly and NVIDIA are set to establish a San Francisco Bay-based co-innovation lab in a deal that will see shared investment of up to $1bn to advance drug discovery with the use of AI.
GSK’s chief scientific officer Tony Wood highlighted recently signed AI collaborations as key to the drugmaker’s early-stage R&D.
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By GlobalDataAstraZeneca confident of 2030 target
Bolstered by 16% growth across oncology in the first nine months of 2025, AstraZeneca is increasingly confident it will reach its $80bn target for total revenue by 2030, according to Sarin. The company’s growing portfolio is “more than offsetting the impact from loss of exclusivity” of several assets including Brilinta (ticagrelor) and Soliris (eculizumab), she said.
Astrazeneca reported a 33% decrease in global revenue to $665m for Brilinta in the first nine months of 2025, as per a Q3 2025 earnings report. In the report, AstraZeneca blamed the erosion on generics entry in the US and Europe. Further patents protecting the drug are expected to expire in the coming decade. Brilinta is indicated to reduce the rate of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome or a history of myocardial infarction. Soliris also has looming patent expiries, with the emergence of generics likely to affect sales. AstraZeneca has already agreed settlements with Amgen and Samsung Bioepis for licensed biosimilar entries.
Antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) are a modality that the drugmaker will be looking towards to boost revenue. AstraZeneca has eight wholly owned ADC assets in clinical development, said Sarin. The ADC market is growing rapidly and is forecast to exceed $40bn by 2029 according to a 2024 report by GlobalData.
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The first pivotal Phase III data readout for the gastric cancer-indicated ADC sonesitatug vedotin (AZD0901) is expected in H1 2026 (NCT06346392), highlighted Sarin.
Beyond oncology, AstraZeneca is pushing for expansion within the cardiovascular, renal and metabolism (CVRM) space, driven by increased investment. The oral PCSK9 inhibitor laroprovstat is being investigated in several pivotal Phase III studies with data readouts expected in 2027 for two studies evaluating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) reduction (NCT07000123 and NCT07000136).
Further, Sarin highlighted the company’s weight management portfolio with three Phase II programmes expected to have data readouts in the first half of 2026. Namely, the oral small molecule GLP-1RA AZD5004 (NCT06579092); novel amylin receptor selective agonist peptide AZD6234 (NCT06851858), and dual GCG 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,” said Sarin.
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