Baidu, investors in talks to raise $2 bln for biotech startup -source

Ping An Healthcare and Technology Co

09/09/2020 07:22

By Yingzhi Yang and Brenda Goh
    BEIJING/SHANGHAI, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Chinese tech giant
Baidu  BIDU.O  is in talks with investors to raise up to $2
billion over three years for a biotech startup, which will use
AI technology to discover new drugs and diagnose diseases, a
person with direct knowledge of the matter said.
    A second person confirmed the startup plan. 
    Baidu  BIDU.O  is unlikely to be the controlling investor,
the first person said. Both sources spoke on condition of
anonymity, adding they did not have more details on the
investment as talks were still under way.
   Baidu's plans come at a time of increased investment in the
healthcare sector since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
with many companies expanding into online diagnosis options to
fill the gaps left by overstretched, overcrowded hospitals. 
   WeDoctor, backed by Tencent  0700.HK , Alibaba's  BABA.N 
healthcare arm and Ping An Good Doctor  1833.HK  have joined the
fray to develop apps that offer diagnosis, prescriptions,
appointment bookings, 1-hour drug delivery and insurance.
    But the startup under discussion plans to focus more on such
areas as drug discovery and development, and early tumor
diagnosis, by mobilizing Baidu's powerful artificial
intelligence (AI) technology that can perform complex computing
to produce biological innovations, the sources said.
    The name of the startup has not been decided, but Baidu came
up with the idea as early as six months ago, one of the sources
said, adding that Baidu founder and Chairman Robin Li has been
personally involved in the project.
    Baidu declined to comment. 
    Baidu open-sourced its Ribonucleic acid (RNA) prediction
algorithm LinearFold this year. The tool aims to accelerate the
prediction time of a virus' RNA secondary structure, which is
crucial to understand a virus and develop vaccines. 
    The healthcare industry, especially biotechnology, has seen
a flood of money flow in amid the scramble for a COVID-19
vaccine and governments seeking to fix their health systems. 
    The Hang Seng Healthcare Index  .HSHCI  has surged about 40%
over the past five months, outstripping the Hang Seng Index
 .HSI  that edged up more than 6% over the time.

 (Reporting by Yingzhi Yang in Beijing and Brenda Goh in
Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
 ((Yingzhi.Yang@thomsonreuters.com; +861056692133;))