AstraZeneca struck a multi‑year discovery and option agreement with Algen Biotechnologies valued at up to $555 million. The collaboration pairs AstraZeneca’s R&D muscle in immunology with Algen’s AlgenBrain platform, which integrates CRISPR functional genomics and AI to identify disease‑relevant targets in human cell types. AstraZeneca will receive exclusive rights to develop and commercialize selected targets from the workstream. The pact underscores pharma’s growing appetite for AI‑driven, human‑biology‑first target discovery and follows a broader industry shift away from animal model‑centric early discovery.