陈颂雄领投Multiply Labs 7500万美元B轮 机器人自动化药品生产；同月以ImmunityBio创始人身份出席肿瘤学研讨会
10月6日，总部位于旧金山的Multiply Labs通过Business Wire宣布完成7,500万美元B轮融资，自2016年创办以来累计融资超过1亿美元。本轮由华裔医生、企业家陈颂雄（Patrick Soon-Shiong）通过其控股公司NantWorks领投，新投资方包括阿斯利康、Lingotto、Teradyne与Strange Ventures，老股东Casdin Capital、Lux Capital、Fifty Years、Ora Global与Founders Fund等跟投。
Multiply Labs以机器人自动化生物药生产中最复杂的环节，其平台最初聚焦细胞与基因疗法，正扩展至抗体、病毒载体与mRNA疗法，可与药厂现有仪器及已验证流程衔接。公司称，其机器人集群可将单剂生产成本降低74%、吞吐量最高提升至人工生产的100倍。公司联合创办人兼首席执行官Fred Parietti表示：「AI正在设计出比这个行业有能力生产的更多的疗法。」陈颂雄则表示：「物理AI生物制造的世界已经到来。细胞疗法的生产极其复杂，执行细胞生产的每一个精细步骤都必须符合GMP标准。」本轮资金将用于扩大产能、推进产品路线图，并扩充工程、法规与商务团队。
十天后的10月16日，陈颂雄以另一重身份亮相：据ImmunityBio（纳斯达克：IBRX）10月8日公告，他以公司创始人、执行董事长兼全球首席科学与医学官的身份，于美东时间10月16日下午1时至1时25分以视频方式参加Piper Sandler虚拟肿瘤学研讨会的炉边谈话，由该行董事总经理、高级研究分析师Ted Tenthoff主持，议题包括主力产品ANKTIVA及更广泛的免疫疗法管线。陈颂雄在公告中表示：「我们欢迎有机会与Piper Sandler及投资界交流ImmunityBio的进展，以及我们通过激活人体先天与适应性免疫系统来改变癌症治疗的愿景。」
陈颂雄1952年出生于南非，父母为华人移民，他是移植外科医生出身，发明了白蛋白结合型抗癌药Abraxane，现为《洛杉矶时报》东主。（GSM 据Business Wire公司公告报道）
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)
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：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).
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