AstraZeneca struck a multi‑year collaboration with Algen Biotechnologies valued up to $555 million to apply Algen’s CRISPR‑AI functional genomics platform to target discovery in immunology. The pact gives AstraZeneca exclusive development rights to targets identified under the alliance and anchors an AI‑driven approach integrated with high‑throughput perturbation data. Meanwhile Shuttle Pharmaceuticals moved to acquire Molecule.ai for roughly $10 million (cash and stock), signaling smaller players are also consolidating AI capabilities to accelerate internal discovery. Together these deals show both big pharmas and niche biotech buyers are investing heavily to operationalize AI and functional genomics in early target selection.