Patrick Soon-Shiong Leads Multiply Labs' $75M Series B for Robotic Drug Manufacturing; Joins Oncology Symposium as ImmunityBio Founder the Same Month
San Francisco-based Multiply Labs announced on October 6, via Business Wire, that it had raised a $75 million Series B, bringing its total capital raised to more than $100 million since its founding in 2016. The round was led by Chinese-born physician and entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong through NantWorks, with new investors AstraZeneca, Lingotto, Teradyne and Strange Ventures, and returning investors including Casdin Capital, Lux Capital, Fifty Years, Ora Global and Founders Fund.
Multiply Labs uses robotics to automate some of the most complex steps in biomanufacturing. Its platform, initially focused on cell and gene therapies, is expanding to antibodies, viral vectors and mRNA therapies, works with manufacturers' existing instruments and validated processes, and is owned and operated by drugmakers in their own facilities. The company says its robotic clusters can cut cost per dose by 74% and deliver up to 100 times the throughput of manual production. "AI is designing more therapies than the industry will ever be able to manufacture," said co-founder and CEO Fred Parietti. Soon-Shiong said: "The world of physical AI biological manufacturing has arrived. Manufacturing cell therapies is extraordinarily complex. Every step must meet GMP standards when executing the intricate processes of cell manufacturing." The new funding will expand manufacturing capacity, accelerate the product roadmap and grow the engineering, regulatory and commercial teams.
Ten days later, on October 16, Soon-Shiong appeared in another capacity. According to an ImmunityBio (NASDAQ: IBRX) announcement published October 8, he took part virtually in a fireside chat at the Piper Sandler Virtual Oncology Symposium on October 16 from 1:00 to 1:25 p.m. ET, in his role as the company's founder, executive chairman and global chief scientific and medical officer. The session, moderated by Piper Sandler managing director and senior research analyst Ted Tenthoff, covered the company's lead product ANKTIVA and its broader immunotherapy pipeline. "We welcome the opportunity to join Piper Sandler and the investment community to discuss ImmunityBio's progress and our vision for transforming cancer care by activating the body's innate and adaptive immune systems," Soon-Shiong said in the announcement.
Born in South Africa in 1952 to Chinese immigrant parents, Soon-Shiong trained as a transplant surgeon, invented the cancer drug Abraxane, and is the owner of the Los Angeles Times. (GSM, based on Business Wire company announcements)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：陈颂雄在公开活动上发言（资料照片）。图片来源：NHS Confederation，经 Wikimedia Commons（CC BY 2.0）。Photo: Patrick Soon-Shiong speaking at a public event (file photo). Source: NHS Confederation, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0).
