AI powerhouse Anthropic is continuing its push into the healthcare arena with the acquisition of previously stealth AI biotech startup Coefficient Bio in a $400 million stock deal, according to reporting from The Information and Eric Newcomer.
TechCrunch also confirmed the acquisition through sources close to the deal, and Coefficient’s PitchBook page reflects the $400 million transaction as well. Anthropic and Coefficient have not yet responded to Fierce Biotech’s requests for confirmation.
According to Coefficient’s LinkedIn page, Aris Theologis is Coefficient’s CEO and co-founder. He previously served as chief business officer at Evozyne and as a vice president at Paragon Biosciences. He is also experienced in AI partnerships; his LinkedIn profile notes that he established and expanded a partnership with Nvidia during his time at Evozyne. According to PitchBook, New York-based Coefficient was founded in 2025 and had six employees.
Theologis is joined by co-founder and chief technology officer Nathan Frey, who was a principal scientist at Biogen until September of last year. A third co-founder, Joyce Hong, previously spent nearly five years as a principal at Roivant Sciences, according to LinkedIn.
Coefficient leverages AI in a bid to boost efficiency in drug discovery and biological research, according to TechCrunch.
Anthropic, for its part, has spent the past six months expanding its healthcare presence, launching Claude for Life Sciences in October and Claude for Healthcare in January. The company has also announced new capabilities for life sciences, with its offerings spanning preclinical R&D through clinical operations and regulatory affairs.
Eric Kauderer-Abrams, head of biology and life sciences at Anthropic, told Fierce in January that healthcare and life sciences represent one of the company’s largest strategic bets. “For life sciences, it’s about making sure that our models have skills spanning everything from early-stage discovery through translation and commercialization, and that they connect to the tools that scientists and life science professionals are using every day,” he said.
Anthropic found itself on the wrong side of federal policy in March, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told employees they could no longer use Anthropic’s Claude tool, as President Donald Trump sought to blacklist the company from the federal government.
The Anthropic ban may also impact the FDA’s drug review process. Last summer, the FDA launched Elsa, an AI tool designed to accelerate drug product reviews and based on Claude.
Anthropic’s entry into biotech and healthcare follows similar moves by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, including ChatGPT Health, a hub that allows users to upload their medical records, and OpenAI for Healthcare, a suite of tools for healthcare enterprises.
