AI Biology & Multiomics
AI Biology & Multiomics spans AI-native drug discovery platforms, the sequencing, single-cell and spatial tools that generate biological data, and clinico-genomic data businesses that license that data to pharma. Pharma milestone-based collaborations, cloud and GPU partnerships, and data-licensing deals anchor the verified evidence. Concentrated supplier and customer relationships, tariff and funding pressure on tools vendors, drug-pricing and biosecurity rules, and thin recent activity at several leaders temper the picture. Most established participants show no activity in the last 90 days.
Active institutional exposure flipped from a net inflow of $1.1 billion in Q1 2026 to a net outflow of $679.3 million in Q2 2026. 51.9% of companies in this sub-theme saw decreased active positions in Q2 2026.
Overview
AI Biology & Multiomics covers companies that combine genomic, proteomic, single-cell, spatial or phenotypic data with computational or foundation-model methods to find and validate drug targets and biologic candidates. Routine diagnostic testing without a computational-discovery platform sits outside the theme. The theme has four structural layers. (1) Discovery platforms that turn data into candidates: Recursion and Generate Biomedicines for AI-designed small molecules and proteins, and AbCellera for antibody discovery, with Schrodinger and Absci as named competitors. (2) Data-generation tools: Illumina sequencers, 10x Genomics and Bruker single-cell and spatial systems, Standard BioTools proteomics assets, Twist Bioscience DNA synthesis and Bio-Techne reagents. (3) Clinico-genomic and immune-repertoire data owners such as Tempus AI, Caris Life Sciences, Personalis, GeneDx and Adaptive Biotechnologies, which sell testing and data to biopharma. (4) Compute and cloud providers, with Nvidia and Google Cloud supporting Recursion and Google Cloud supporting Tempus AI and Ginkgo Bioworks, and Microsoft supporting Adaptive and GeneDx. Illumina is the single-source or primary sequencing supplier to Personalis, Adaptive, Tempus AI, Natera and GeneDx, so the sequencing layer underpins much of the data supply. Large pharma partners such as Sanofi, Novartis, Amgen, AbbVie, Lilly and Takeda fund discovery through upfront payments, milestones and royalties. Contract research organisations such as Evotec and Charles River offer overlapping antibody discovery and research services and compete with some platform companies.
Investment Thesis
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Bottleneck Tracker
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Key Companies
Related Events
This is a proof-of-concept milestone for generative biology applied to antimicrobial resistance, moving AI-designed organisms from lab experiments to a human patient. The evidence is thin, since it rests on a company announcement with no peer review and no clinical outcome. It nonetheless strengthens the case for AI-driven biological design platforms and may attract investor and partner interest to AI-phage startups. Regulators will likely need to define pathways for patient-specific, AI-engineered biologics, and biosecurity concerns about AI-designed viruses will likely get more attention. Large pharma and antibiotic developers are unlikely to see near-term financial effects until efficacy data arrive.
US Customs and Border Protection will detain goods from BGI Group, BGI Genomics and MGI Tech starting Thursday, cutting the leading Chinese genomic sequencing firms off from US import channels. The action widens the US-China tech rivalry into biotechnology, following Treasury's proposed limits on US investment in Chinese biotech, AI and supercomputing. Beijing's vow to take countermeasures raises the risk of retaliation against US life-science and diagnostics firms and strains the trade truce before the planned Shenzhen summit. US sequencing rivals such as Illumina could gain share in non-China markets, while Western labs that rely on low-cost MGI instruments and reagents face supply and compliance disruption. The impact on BGI is limited by its small US footprint, but the listing adds to its Pentagon Chinese military company designation and its reputational and financing risks.