BioNTech to acquire artificial intelligence firm InstaDeep

German pharma giant BioNTech on Tuesday announced that it will acquire London-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm InstaDeep.

BioNTech will pay £362 million ($440 million) with additional performance-based future milestone payments up to nearly £200 million ($243 million), the company said in a statement.

The deal, expected to close in the first half of 2023, will help BioNTech boost "capabilities in AI-driven drug discovery and development of next-generation immunotherapies and vaccines to address diseases with high unmet medical need."

The transaction will add approximately 240 highly skilled professionals to BioNTech's workforce, according to the statement.

In November 2020, the two companies first collaborated to develop AI-driven medicines for a range of cancers and infectious diseases.

"The acquisition of InstaDeep allows us to incorporate the rapidly evolving AI capabilities of the digital world into our technologies, research, drug discovery, manufacturing, and deployment processes," said Ugur Sahin, the chief executive officer and co-founder of BioNTech.

Karim Beguir, Sahin's counterpart at InstaDeep, said the firm is "very excited to join forces and become one team with BioNTech."

"Together, we envision building a world leader that combines biopharmaceutical research and AI with the aim to design next-generation immunotherapies that enhance medical care-thus, helping fight cancer and other diseases," said Beguir.