The 2025 AI-ML drug discovery and licensing landscape featured large, strategically diverse transactions across R&D partnerships, M&A, venture funding, and IPOs, reflecting the sector’s continued maturation. R&D activity was led by XtalPi’s milestone-heavy partnership with DoveTree, valued at up to $6 billion across multiple therapeutic areas, alongside Monte Rosa Therapeutics’ expanded collaboration with Novartis on AI-designed molecular glue degraders for autoimmune diseases, including $120 million upfront and up to $5.4 billion in milestones. AstraZeneca further strengthened its AI discovery strategy through a preclinical partnership with CSPC Pharmaceuticals targeting immunological and chronic diseases, featuring $110 million upfront and up to $5.2 billion in milestones.
M&A activity favored cash-led acquisitions of scaled platforms, highlighted by Siemens’ $5.1 billion acquisition of Dotmatics, GE HealthCare’s $2.3 billion purchase of Intelerad, and Nanyang Biologics’ $1.5 billion SPAC merger to advance AI-discovered small-molecule programs across multiple indications. Venture funding remained robust, driven by Isomorphic Labs’ $600 million series A, Pathos AI’s $365 million series D, and Flagship Pioneering-backed Lila Sciences raising more than $500 million to automate scientific research using AI and robotics. Public markets also absorbed sizable AI-enabled healthcare offerings, with Caris Life Sciences raising $494 million at a $5.9 billion valuation, Lumexa Imaging raising $463 million to expand its diagnostic imaging network, and Acryl raising $29 million in South Korea following regulatory approval of its AI-based digital therapeutic for depression screening.
AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing R&D Partnerships
In 2025, AI-ML-driven drug discovery and licensing activity accelerated significantly, with 114 deals announced, totaling $43.4 billion in potential value and approximately $67 million in upfront cash and equity. By comparison, 2024 saw lower activity, with 84 deals totaling $11.8 billion in value and $36 million upfront, reflecting smaller scale and earlier stage conservative partnerships. Across 2024 and 2025, the sector recorded 198 deals with an aggregate value of $55.3 billion and approximately $103 million in upfront consideration.
Top AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing R&D Partnerships in 2025
XtalPi development and commercialization deal with DoveTree – August 2025
XtalPi entered an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement with DoveTree covering AI and machine learning-enabled molecular glue programs across oncology, immunology, inflammation, neurology, and metabolic diseases. The collaboration combines XtalPi’s AI-driven discovery platform with DoveTree’s biology and R&D capabilities. Financially, the deal includes $51 million in upfront consideration, up to $49 million in near-term payments, and up to $5.9 billion in potential development and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties.
Monte Rosa Therapeutics license option deal with Novartis – September 2025
Monte Rosa Therapeutics granted Novartis an exclusive, worldwide, sublicensable option to discover and develop molecular glue degraders for autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases using Monte Rosa’s AI and machine learning-enabled QuEEN platform. The agreement expands their existing collaboration and targets difficult-to-drug immune pathways. Financial consideration includes $120 million upfront, up to $60 million in option maintenance payments, and up to $180 million tied to preclinical milestones and option exercises. The deal also provides for up to $2.2 billion in development and regulatory milestones and up to $3.2 billion in commercial milestones plus tiered royalties.
AstraZeneca research partnership with CSPC Pharmaceuticals – June 2025
AstraZeneca entered a preclinical research collaboration with CSPC Pharmaceuticals to develop multiple orally administered small-molecule candidates for immunological and other chronic diseases, leveraging CSPC’s AI and machine learning-driven drug discovery platform. CSPC will conduct research activities, while AstraZeneca holds an exclusive option to license the programs. Financial terms include $110 million upfront, up to $1.6 billion in development milestones, and up to $3.6 billion in commercial milestones, plus single-digit royalties.
AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing M&A
In 2025, AI-ML drug discovery and licensing M&A activity rose sharply, with 99 transactions totaling $12.3 billion, including contingent consideration and $11.3 billion in cash. The small gap between headline and cash values, roughly $1 billion, indicates that most deals were cash dominant. By contrast, 2024 was markedly slower, with 34 deals valued at $3.2 billion including contingents and $3 billion in cash, again reflecting minimal use of contingent structures. Across 2024 and 2025, the sector recorded 133 AI and machine learning-related M&A deals worth $15.5 billion, including contingents and $14.4 billion in cash.
Top AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing M&A in 2025
Siemens acquiring Dotmatics – April 2025
Siemens acquired Dotmatics, a provider of R&D scientific software platforms used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, for $5.1 billion in upfront consideration. Dotmatics’ portfolio, including GraphPad Prism, SnapGene, and Geneious, supports data management, analysis, and decision-making across drug discovery and development. The transaction, completed on July 1, 2025, strengthens Siemens’ life sciences footprint by integrating Dotmatics’ software capabilities with its AI-enabled digital twin technologies.
GE HealthCare acquiring Intelerad – November 2025
GE HealthCare agreed to acquire Intelerad for $2.3 billion in upfront cash. Intelerad offers a cloud-first medical imaging platform with diagnostic viewing, reporting, archiving, image sharing, and AI-enabled workflow tools across outpatient, ambulatory, and hospital settings. The acquisition expands GE HealthCare’s presence in high-growth outpatient markets, enhances its cloud and AI capabilities, and accelerates its shift toward SaaS and recurring revenue. Intelerad contributes approximately $270 million in annual revenue, around 90% recurring, with 30% EBITDA margins, supporting GE HealthCare’s digital growth strategy. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026.
Nanyang Biologics reverse merging with RF Acquisition Corp II in a SPAC – October 2025
Nanyang Biologics (NYB) is going public via a reverse merger with RF Acquisition Corp II, forming a Nasdaq-listed company under the NYB ticker. NYB develops preclinical small-molecule therapies across solid tumors, metabolic, cardiovascular, liver, and obesity indications, leveraging its Vecura AI platform powered by a proprietary Drug-Target Interaction Graph Neural Network (DTIGN) to accelerate discovery of natural compound-based therapeutics. Existing shareholders, including The9 and Mercatus Capital, are rolling over 100% of their equity, retaining majority ownership. The transaction, expected to close in Q1-Q2 2026, values Nanyang Biologics at up to $1.5 billion pre-transaction equity.
AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing Venture Funding Activity
In 2025, venture funding for AI-ML drug discovery and licensing increased materially, with 348 financing rounds raising $11 billion. In comparison, 2024 recorded 264 rounds totaling $8.9 billion, indicating lower activity and a smaller overall funding pool. Across 2024 and 2025, the sector attracted 612 rounds and approximately $19.9 billion in venture capital. Overall, the 2025 increase in both deal count and capital deployed towards AI and ML-driven platforms.
Top AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing Venture Funding Activity in 2025
Isomorphic Labs – Series A – $600M – March 2025
Isomorphic Labs, an AI-first drug design and development company, raised $600 million in its first external financing round, led by Thrive Capital, with participation from GV and follow-on funding from Alphabet. Founded to leverage AI for accelerated drug discovery, the company applies its unified AI drug design engine across multiple therapeutic areas and drug modalities. Notably, Isomorphic Labs co-developed AlphaFold 3 with Google DeepMind, released in May 2024, which accurately predicts molecular structures and interactions. The company’s pipeline includes both internal programs in oncology and immunology and partnered programs with Eli Lilly and Novartis, with the Novartis collaboration recently expanded to broaden scope.
Pathos AI – Series D – $365M – May 2025
Pathos AI, a biotech company leveraging AI for oncology drug development, raised $365 million in its series D round, reaching a post-money valuation of approximately $1.6 billion. The financing will advance the company’s clinical-stage pipeline and expand its proprietary AI Foundation Model for oncology. Pathos is developing the largest multimodal oncology foundation model, integrating clinical, molecular, and imaging data to optimize clinical asset selection, trial design, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic innovation.
Lila Sciences – Series A – $350M – September 2025
Flagship Pioneering’s Lila Sciences, focused on AI-driven “scientific superintelligence,” has raised over $500 million in 2025, including a $235 million series A in April and a $115 million expansion led in part by Nvidia’s venture arm. Earlier series A funding, led by Braidwell and Collective Global, initially totaled $200 million. The capital will support Lila’s core objectives: achieving superhuman scientific performance, expanding automated AI science factories, onboarding its first customers, and recruiting top talent.
AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing – IPO Activity
In 2025, AI-ML drug discovery and licensing IPO activity remained flat at 5 offerings, but total proceeds increased sharply to $1.3 billion, reflecting significantly larger deal sizes. By comparison, 2024 also had 5 IPOs, yet raised only $424 million. Across 2024 and 2025, the sector completed 10 IPOs, raising a combined $1.7 billion.
Top AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing IPO Activity in 2025
Caris Life Sciences – IPO – $494.1M – May 2025
Caris Life Sciences priced its Nasdaq IPO above the initial range, raising more than $494 million in gross proceeds, reflecting strong investor demand. The company sold 24.5 million shares at $21 per share, valuing the Texas-based cancer diagnostics and AI-enabled precision medicine company at approximately $5.9 billion. The offering was initially marketed at $16 to $18 per share and later increased to $19 to $20 before final pricing. Caris also granted underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 3.5 million additional shares at the IPO price. The shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker CAI on June 18, 2025, with the offering expected to close on June 20, 2025.
Lumexa Imaging – IPO – $462.5M – November 2025
Lumexa Imaging Holdings priced its Nasdaq IPO at $18.50 per share, offering 25.0 million shares and raising approximately $463 million, significantly above its initial $200 million target. The company granted underwriters a 30-day option for up to 3.75 million additional shares. Shares began trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker LMRI on December 11, 2025, with the offering expected to close on December 12, 2025. Lumexa Imaging is a nationwide provider of outpatient diagnostic imaging services. As of September 30, 2025, the company operated the second-largest outpatient imaging footprint in the US, with 184 centers across 13 states and 8 joint ventures with health systems.
Acryl – IPO – $28.5M – December 2025
Acryl Inc. debuted on South Korea’s KOSDAQ on December 16, raising ₩42.1 billion ($29 million) through the sale of 2.16 million shares priced at ₩19,500. Shares surged 243.5% on the first trading day, closing at ₩67,000, before pulling back to ₩47,500 on December 17. Based in Seoul, Acryl is notable for receiving Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approval in December 2024 for Acryl-D01, South Korea’s first AI-based digital therapeutic for depression screening and diagnosis. The software uses generative AI to analyze patient interviews and medical records.
Also check out AI/ML Drug Discovery & Licensing R&D Partnerships, Ventures and IPOs – YTD 2024
