Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH

Investments will support new product offerings, US expansion, and development of pathology foundation models. BERLIN and NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Aignostics, a global artificial intelligence (AI) company that turns complex multi-modal pathology data into transformative insights, announced today that it has raised $34 million in Series B financing. This additional funding will be used to build new product offerings for biopharmaceutical clients, fuel growth within the United States (US), and develop leading foundation models for pathology in collaboration with Mayo Clinic. The oversubscribed funding round was led by ATHOS, with investments from Mayo Clinic and growth financing from HTGF, alongside support from existing investors Wellington Partners, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, CARMA Fund, and VC Fonds Technologie managed by IBB Ventures. In total, Aignostics has now raised over $55 million, reflecting investors' confidence in its differentiated AI models and clear commercial strategy. As precision medicine becomes more nuanced and complex, biopharmaceutical companies are increasingly turning to AI to enhance the utility, performance, and scalability of computational pathology analyses for drug development and diagnostics. In parallel, machine learning technologies are rapidly evolving, producing AI models with record accuracy and robustness, opening new avenues for biopharmaceutical research and diagnostics. "At its core, Aignostics is a world-class machine learning company," said Julian Zachmann from ATHOS. "The field is advancing so quickly that, in order to succeed, AI companies need to avoid flashy distractions, stay laser focused on the highest-quality science, and relentlessly innovate. Aignostics is doing just that and bringing a level of transparency and rigor to its biopharmaceutical clients that we think is truly unique." "We know that digital pathology, paired with the vast capabilities of AI, has immense potential to impact diagnosis and treatment for patients. Mayo Clinic is actively charting the new frontier of predictive and personalized care," shared Jim Rogers, CEO of Mayo Clinic Digital Pathology. The new funding will strengthen Aignostics' offerings for target ID, translational research, and companion diagnostics (CDx), and support several strategic initiatives, including: Launch of scaled "plug-and-play" products for a range of indications and tasks, including tumor microenvironment and biomarker profiling. Continued expansion into the US with additional headcount and support for US partners. Collaborative development of foundation models and biopharma product offerings with Mayo Clinic. "2024 has been a pivotal year for us that has included a major strategic collaboration with Bayer and the launch of our first foundation model, RudolfV," said Viktor Matyas, CEO and Co-Founder of Aignostics. "With RudolfV, we've gained the ability to quickly develop cost-efficient algorithms that generalize to the real-world. Now with this new round of funding, we're turning our most popular algorithms into products that will help usher in an era of truly generalizable AI for computational pathology." About Aignostics Aignostics is an artificial intelligence (AI) company that turns complex multimodal pathology data into transformative insights. By combining proprietary access to multimodal clinical data, industry-leading technologies, and rigorous science, Aignostics develops best-in-class products and services for the next generation of precision medicine. Through collaborations with its biopharma partners, Aignostics supports drug discovery, translational research, clinical trials, and CDx development. Established in 2018, Aignostics is a spin-off from Charité Berlin, one of the world's largest and most esteemed university hospitals. Aignostics is funded by leading investors and has operations in Berlin and New York. More information at: Follow us on LinkedIn: About ATHOS With its heritage in healthcare and life sciences, ATHOS is a single-family office that supports entrepreneurs to positively impact health and well-being. Known to the broader public as the long-term majority investor of BioNTech, ATHOS remains committed to advancing medical innovation and building transformative companies for the future. About HTGF - High-Tech Gründerfonds HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing start-ups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports start-ups in all phases of development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in the pre-seed and seed phase and participates significantly in further financing rounds, since 2024 with the HTGF Opportunity growth fund. Across its funds, HTGF has over 2 billion euros under management. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed more than 750 start-ups and successfully sold shares in more than 180 companies. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and numerous companies are invested in the HTGF seed funds. Investors in the HTGF Opportunity growth fund include the ERP Special Fund and KfW with the resources of the Zukunftsfonds ("Future Fund"). More information at: Follow us on LinkedIn: Contact Lisa Zheng [email protected] SOURCE Aignostics WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

The weather is getting cooler, but biotech’s recovery is heating up. After a years-long wait-and-see game exhausted many industry insiders, recent signals indicate a mostly promising direction for drug developers. The third quarter, which ended Monday, was up and down, with the Yen carry trade fiasco and the typical August lull. But then came a long-awaited interest rate cut, and a mini IPO revival began. Two more rate cuts are expected by the end of the year, and more are anticipated in 2025. Nine months into the year, biotech is on track to surpass the total amount of private financing from 2023, according to a new quarterly analysis from investment bank William Blair. There have been at least 10 crossover rounds each quarter for three consecutive quarters, the first stretch of its kind since the heydays of 2021. And the proportion of extension rounds dropped in the third quarter, which “potentially” means “we have passed the peak of the financing overhang in the private markets,” according to the William Blair bankers. There were five IPOs in the third quarter, and three more are now in line, including Septerna, a Phase 1 biotech that filed Wednesday . The number of follow-on offerings and private investments in public equity slowed last quarter, but they picked up after Labor Day. The first nine months of 2024 already surpassed 2023’s totals by 34%. Biopharmas have done 189 secondary offerings, raising $33.9 billion in total proceeds year-to-date, according to William Blair. Last year’s count was 186 offerings and $25.3 billion raised. Private megarounds held steady throughout the year, as well, with 23 such financings in the first quarter, 27 in the second and 23 in the third, according to an Endpoints News tally. “Combined with improving sentiment, lower rates, and better financing window (record levels of follow-ons) — Q3’s event scoreboard was supportive for XBI and biotech funds,” Jefferies analyst Michael Yee wrote in an Oct. 1 note. For the firms funding new drugs and the next generation of startups, the money was flowing, too. In recent weeks, multiple venture capital funds announced some of the biggest biotech VC hauls ever. Bain Capital Life Sciences raised $3 billion, as did ARCH Venture Partners . Flagship Pioneering kicked off the third quarter with its own $3.6 billion pool of capital. Others included TPG ‘s $580 million, venBio’s $528 million, DCVC Bio’s $400 million and Asabys’ $200 million. One sore spot was European pharma stocks , with dips in share price at Roche (down about 6.5%), Novo Nordisk (down about 1.5%) and AstraZeneca (down about 1.5%). “Obesity remains an important theme for the sector considering the outsized moves in large caps,” the Jefferies analysts wrote Tuesday evening, citing updates from Roche’s GLP-1 pill and GLP-1/GIP injectable , and Novo’s Phase 2a CB1 program . “We think excitement and enthusiasm remain high, but performance could be more data-driven with more winners and losers as the landscape continues to evolve and mature over the coming months.” Another pain point was M&A and partnerships, which William Blair bankers characterized as “anemic” in the third quarter. Eli Lilly’s $3.2 billion purchase of Morphic Therapeutic in July was the only public company buyout of more than $1 billion during that period. There were a few other deals that could eclipse $1 billion in total value, but those are contingent on the acquirees — Jnana , Nerio and Dermavant — reaching certain milestones. Also driving M&A activity were first-generation AI biotechs and multiple commercial-stage drugmakers, including Valinor Pharma, Ironshore Therapeutics , G1 Therapeutics , Revance and Dermavant. Most of the deals have not yet closed. “We expect some pause into the election,” Yee wrote Tuesday, “but lower rates and [continued] financing (funds putting money to work) support a higher XBI as we seek to hopefully break the key $100 level.” The XBI closed on Monday, Sept. 30, at $98.80, though it had crossed the $100.00 threshold in mid-July and a few times since.

The Angelika Amon research building is named after a Viennese pioneer in cell biology who was closely connected with Boehringer Ingelheim. Image credit: Boehringer Ingelheim. Boehringer Ingelheim has opened a €60m ($66.8m) research building in Vienna, Austria, as the company looks to double down in the oncology therapeutics space. The building is named after Angelika Amon, a Viennese pioneer in cell biology who died in 2020 following a battle with ovarian cancer. Boehringer Ingelheim said the scientist “was closely connected” to the company. The Angelika Amon research building will house 150 employees across 11 floors, according to a 25 September press release. The building has architectural additions, which are part of a drive by the company to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Photovoltaic arrays on the roof and the façade will save 45 tons of carbon dioxide a year while electrochromic glass darkens automatically with sunlight and reduces cooling requirements by 30%. Boehringer Ingelheim said the laboratories would allow scientists to “achieve their goal to develop innovative therapies for people living with cancer”, though it did not specify which cancer indications would be researched. See Also: Boehringer Ingelheim opens $66.8m new cancer research facility AskBio and Belief BioMed partner to advance gene therapies Boehringer Ingelheim did not immediately respond to Pharmaceutical Technology for comment on which oncology indications would be initially targeted or how the departmental makeup of the workforce would look. The building’s development is part of a five-year $7.8bn investment plan by Boehringer Ingelheim. As part of the investment, the company opened a biomass power plant in Ingelheim, Germany, in January this year, and completed the Biologicals Development Centre in Biberach last year. A chemical innovation plant, also in Ingelheim, is currently under construction , with an opening slated in 2026. Boehringer Ingelheim’s innovation unit head Paola Casarosa said: “Our goal is to create more health for humans and animals. Especially in the field of oncology, there is still a massive unmet medical need. We are working with great enthusiasm to make cancer a treatable disease.” The company’s global head of cancer research Norbert Kraut added that “around one-third of the new products at Boehringer Ingelheim will come from oncology” in the future. In its 2023 full-year earnings release in April this year, the company said it had plans to start ten new Phase II and Phase III trials in the next 12-18 months. This would support a target of 25 treatments it’s aiming to bring to market by 2030. Boehringer Ingelheim acquired Nerio Therapeutics for $1.3bn in July as part of its cancer push, gaining a preclinical immune checkpoint inhibitor programme that it said would become a “key centrepiece” of its immuno-oncology portfolio.