Skip to Content
Uncategorized

Softbank Is Investing $1.1 Billion to Help a Biotech Firm’s Tech Drive

August 9, 2017

The enormous technology conglomerate Softbank is continuing its spending spree, this time investing $1.1 billion into biotech firm Roivant Sciences. The drugmaker is currently developing seven neurological therapies and several treatments for rare diseases, among others. It’s the first time that Softbank has dipped into its $93 billion Vision Fund, which includes cash from Saudi Arabia, to support a drugmaker. Roivant’s CEO, Vivek Ramaswamy, tells Endpoints that the funding injection won’t all be used for regular biotech ideas: instead, some of it will be funnelled into what he calls “new technologies that can improve a biotech’s efficiency.”

Softbank is on a huge spending spree right now. In the past year, it has acquired the British chip designer ARM, invested $4 billion into chipmaker Nvidia, turned the London-based simulation startup Improbable into a unicorn, and gobbled up the robot maker Boston Dynamics. Next stop, drug tech.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Large language models can do jaw-dropping things. But nobody knows exactly why.

And that's a problem. Figuring it out is one of the biggest scientific puzzles of our time and a crucial step towards controlling more powerful future models.

How scientists traced a mysterious covid case back to six toilets

When wastewater surveillance turns into a hunt for a single infected individual, the ethics get tricky.

The problem with plug-in hybrids? Their drivers.

Plug-in hybrids are often sold as a transition to EVs, but new data from Europe shows we’re still underestimating the emissions they produce.

Google DeepMind’s new generative model makes Super Mario–like games from scratch

Genie learns how to control games by watching hours and hours of video. It could help train next-gen robots too.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.