Multiply Labs raises $75 million to outsource the manufacture of cell and gene therapies to robotic arms

Led by Patrick Soon-Shiong, in partnership with AstraZeneca and Teradyne, the Series B funding round is intended to expand robotic ‘clusters’ that replicate the movements of technicians without the need for further regulatory approval.

Startup Multiply Labs, which automates pharmaceutical production, has closed a $75 million Series B round. The round is led by researcher and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, joined by more than half a dozen investors, including AstraZeneca and robot maker Teradyne.

Robotic cells that imitate operators

In a drug factory, much of the work still consists of loading materials into a machine, waiting for the end of the processing and then transferring the result to the next equipment, for weeks. Multiply Labs groups each device in a dedicated enclosure and entrusts the transfers to lightweight robotic arms, equipped with tactile sensors that measure the pressure exerted on the vials. Mounted on rails and equipped with an elevator, these arms can also agitate or mix preparations. The whole thing is controlled by an AI model trained on pharmaceutical customer data.

The central argument is regulatory: changing a production step normally requires a new authorization. By faithfully replicating the way employees perform each gesture, the system leaves the process unchanged on paper. The company, which is focused on personalized cell and gene therapies, claims a 100-fold increase in throughput and a 74% lower cost per dose. The funds will be used to cover new types of treatments and increase its capacity.