CHINESE tech giant Baidu is in talks with investors to raise up to US$2 billion over three years for a biotech startup, which will use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to discover new drugs and diagnose diseases, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Baidu is unlikely to be the controlling investor, the sources 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 health care 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, Alibaba’s health care arm and Ping An Good Doctor have joined the fray to develop apps that offer diagnosis, prescriptions, appointment bookings, one-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 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 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 health care 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. (SD-Agencies)