Modella AI Announces Acquisition by AstraZeneca to Advance AI-Driven Oncology R&D at Global Scale

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BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 13, 2026--

Modella AI, a leader in artificial intelligence for life sciences, today announced that it has been acquired by AstraZeneca, expanding the companies’ existing collaboration to advance the application of multi-modal AI foundation models and AI agents across AstraZeneca’s global oncology portfolio.

The acquisition follows a multi-year agreement with AstraZeneca announced in July 2025 and will integrate Modella AI’s generative and agentic AI platform into AstraZeneca’s oncology research and development organization, supporting efforts to accelerate clinical development, enhance biomarker discovery, and enable the next wave of data-driven decision-making across the pipeline.

“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,” said Gabi Raia, Chief Commercial Officer of 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,” added Jill Stefanelli, PhD, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of 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,” said Faisal Mahmood, PhD, co-founder of Modella AI and Professor at Mass General Brigham. “Integrating our foundation models directly into AstraZeneca’s research ecosystem will help translate methodological advances into real-world impact faster.”

"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,” said Jorge Reis-Filho, Chief of AI for Science Innovation at AstraZeneca.

The acquisition will embed Modella AI’s multi-modal foundation models and AI agents into AstraZeneca’s oncology R&D environment, enabling the generation of new biological and clinical insights, as well as greater automation, scalability, and consistency across data-intensive workflows. The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Modella AI

Modella AI is a Boston-based biomedical AI company dedicated to advancing healthcare through cutting-edge generative and agentic AI technologies. By combining deep expertise in artificial intelligence and pathology, Modella AI builds multi-modal foundation models and AI agents that empower clinicians, improve patient outcomes, and transform medical workflows, with a particular focus on oncology.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect current assumptions and forecasts made by Modella AI management regarding future events. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results and the forward-looking statements described here; neither company assumes any obligation to update these statements to reflect future events or developments.

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CONTACT: Media

Modella AI Media Relations:[email protected]

KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: DATA MANAGEMENT BIOTECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY HEALTH PHARMACEUTICAL ONCOLOGY HEALTH TECHNOLOGY APPS/APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CLINICAL TRIALS

SOURCE: Modella AI

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PUB: 01/13/2026 12:02 PM/DISC: 01/13/2026 12:02 PM

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