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A licensing deal built on unproven AI drug design—AstraZeneca paid Absci up to $247 million to generate zero-shot antibody candidates for an undisclosed oncology target, with royalties tied to future sales. The one confirmed milestone since: AI-designed sequences delivered in November 2024, leaving the partnership's real payoff still unproven.
Absci and AstraZeneca sign deal on AI-powered cancer antibody drug worth up to $247 million using generative AI for drug design
AstraZeneca bets $247M that AI can create cancer antibody partnering with Absci zero-shot generative AI drug design technology platform
Successfully delivered AI de novo designed antibody sequences to AstraZeneca, fulfilling first milestone under collaboration ... first announced in December…
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AstraZeneca entered a collaboration with Absci Corporation (Nasdaq: ABSI), announced December 2023, to advance an AI-designed oncology antibody using Absci's Integrated Drug Creation platform and its de novo 'zero-shot' generative AI models, which design antibodies to bind a specified target without relying on existing antibody data. The agreement is valued at up to $247 million across an upfront commitment, R&D funding and milestone payments, plus royalties on any resulting product sales. On November 12, 2024, Absci delivered AI de novo designed antibody sequences to AstraZeneca, fulfilling the first milestone under the collaboration; the partnership remains active and is listed among Absci's current pharma collaborations.
AZ partnered with Absci for AI-designed oncology antibody using Integrated Drug Creation platform.
Absci delivered AI de novo designed antibody sequences to AstraZeneca, fulfilling the first milestone under the December 2023 oncology AI-antibody collaboration.
AI-designed antibody candidate in preclinical development. Novel computational biology approach.
| Deal | Year | Value | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca PLC / Absci Corporation (this deal) | 2023 | $247M | 54 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited | 2019 | $6.9B | 100 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / KuDOS Pharmaceuticals Limited | 2005 | $210M | 98 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2020 | $39.0B | 86 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Acerta Pharma | 2015 | $4.0B | 86 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / Amgen Inc. | 2020 | $2.3B | 84 |
| AstraZeneca PLC / MedImmune Inc. | 2007 | $15.6B | 82 |
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More: 2023 deals · AstraZeneca PLC deals · Oncology deals