Modella AI announced it has been acquired by AstraZeneca, deepening an existing partnership aimed at applying multi-modal AI foundation models and AI agents across AstraZeneca’s global oncology research and development efforts.
The deal expands on a multi-year agreement the companies announced in July 2025 and will bring Modella AI’s generative and agentic AI platform into AstraZeneca’s oncology R&D organization. The companies said the integration is intended to help accelerate clinical development, improve biomarker discovery, and support more data-driven decision-making across AstraZeneca’s oncology pipeline.
Modella AI positions its technology at the intersection of pathology and clinical data, using multi-modal foundation models and AI agents to automate and standardize data-intensive workflows while generating new biological and clinical insights. AstraZeneca said the acquisition strengthens its broader push to deploy AI tools across drug discovery and clinical development, including in support of targeted therapeutics and companion diagnostics.
Modella AI is based in Boston and focuses on biomedical applications of generative and agentic AI, with an emphasis on oncology. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
KEY QUOTES:
“Oncology drug development is becoming more complex, more data-rich, and more time-sensitive, and our companies expect AI solutions that are not only powerful but truly deployable in global trials and clinical settings.”
Gabi Raia, Chief Commercial Officer, Modella AI
“By joining AstraZeneca, we can apply our multimodal foundation models and agentic AI platform across a world-class oncology pipeline to accelerate development and help improve outcomes for patients with cancer.”
Jill Stefanelli, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Modella AI
“Modella AI was built at the intersection of pathology, clinical data, and advanced generative AI to tackle some of the hardest problems in oncology. Integrating our foundation models directly into AstraZeneca’s research ecosystem will help translate methodological advances into real-world impact faster.”
Faisal Mahmood, PhD, Co-Founder, Modella AI; Professor, Mass General Brigham
“AstraZeneca is transforming its drug discovery and clinical development through the deployment of innovative and impactful AI solutions. The acquisition of Modella AI provides state-of-the-art frontier pathology foundation models and AI agents that will continue to enable the development of targeted therapeutics along with diagnostics in our oncology portfolio.”
Jorge Reis-Filho, Chief of AI for Science Innovation, AstraZeneca
