AI, CRISPR, and mRNA Driving Biotech’s Smartest Decade Yet

As biotech evolves from early-stage experimentation to industrialized innovation, the sector’s momentum has never been greater.

According to global pharmaceutical investment trends data from FounderNest, an AI-powered market intelligence platform, AI-driven drug discovery, CRISPR gene editing, and mRNA vaccine development are attracting record levels of capital and rapidly scaling their teams (1). These technologies are collectively driving the next generation of pharmaceutical breakthroughs.

The merging of AI and biotech reached new heights in 2025, and as the year closes, it may well be remembered as the one when biotech’s smartest decade really began. Our latest analysis of the sector shows that AI-driven drug discovery, CRISPR gene editing, and mRNA vaccine development are emerging as three of the fastest growing areas of pharma innovation (1).

Despite lean teams with median employee counts ranging from just 16 to 31, the 1,200 companies we looked at across these areas collectively command more than $666 billion in disclosed funding (1). This funding highlights a key trend in biotech this year: small, focused teams are achieving outsized scientific and financial influence.

AI-powered drug discovery: Asia surges ahead

We identified more than 530 companies in AI-enabled drug discovery (1). These firms, averaging seven years old, demonstrate remarkable efficiency and scalability. With a median funding of $18.6 million across three rounds, nearly half have already secured institutional investment. Total funding in the sector now exceeds $420 billion, a figure that signals AI-driven discovery is no longer a speculative venture but a magnet for both venture and strategic capital.

Interestingly, Asia has emerged as the unexpected leader in global innovation. Companies there have collectively raised $267 billion, outpacing $121.7 billion in the U.S. and $28.8 billion in Europe (1). It seems Asia’s biotech sector is becoming a new center for innovation, fueled by deep talent pools, strong regulatory support, and increasing access to long-term funding that enables companies to scale and pursue ambitious drug discovery programs.

Investor confidence remains strong despite broader market volatility, with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5% in total funding (1). For innovation teams and M&A strategists, this trend underscores a critical takeaway: AI-driven drug discovery is transitioning from experimental pipelines to industrialized, high-throughput discovery engines.

CRISPR: Biotech’s fastest-growing segment

CRISPR-based gene editing continues to capture the imagination, and capital, of the life sciences sector. We tracked 359 active CRISPR companies with a median age of eight years (1). Total disclosed funding has reached $84.5 billion, with more than half of these companies raising at least one institutional round. Median funding per company across three rounds is $30 million, reflecting deep investor confidence in the technology and its commercial potential.

The US remains the dominant force, contributing $73.5 billion across 575 rounds, while Europe and Asia account for $5.3 billion and $4.7 billion, respectively (1). The five-year CAGR of 33.5% underscores the field’s rapid growth, a pace fueled by more than 40 initial public offerings and the emergence of scaled players with more than 100 employees.

mRNA vaccines: From pandemic pivot to industrialized production

The mRNA sector, originally spotlighted by COVID-era vaccines, has grown into a fully capitalized, industrialized domain. We looked at 359 active mRNA vaccine companies with a median age of 11 years (1). These companies have collectively raised $162.4 billion, with median funding per company of $39.4 million across three rounds, reflecting the high capital intensity of scaling from R&D to industrial-scale production.

The US dominates funding, with $102.2 billion across 373 rounds, followed by Europe ($38.4 billion) and Australia ($19.1 billion) (1). With a five-year CAGR of 28.8%, mRNA technology is not just expanding its infectious disease portfolio, it is setting the stage for new vaccines, oncology therapeutics, and other precision biologics, showcasing the technology’s scalability and growing impact on biotech innovation.

Structural patterns and the road ahead

Despite differing therapeutic modalities, AI, CRISPR, and mRNA companies share several structural patterns. They operate in lean teams, demonstrate sustained growth trajectories, and attract increasingly globalized funding. Together, they define what is driving modern pharma: AI accelerates discovery, CRISPR enables precision editing, and mRNA platforms scale rapidly for industrialized production.

Looking ahead to 2026, the data show a market in which AI-enabled platforms will increasingly integrate multi-modal datasets, from genomics to real-world evidence, further reducing timelines for drug discovery and target validation (1). At the same time, CRISPR applications are expected to extend beyond rare genetic diseases, encompassing synthetic biology, agriculture, and even cellular therapies for oncology. Meanwhile, mRNA industrialization will continue to advance, with modular, scalable manufacturing platforms enabling rapid pivoting to emerging pathogens and novel therapeutic areas. Together, these trends signal a biotech sector that is not only more agile and scalable but also capable of rapidly translating innovative science into real-world therapies.

In short, we are entering a decade when smart, data-driven biotech companies—small in team size but massive in potential impact—will define the pace and direction of global pharmaceutical innovation. Biotech’s smartest decade is here, and AI, CRISPR, and mRNA are leading the way.

Reference

Bourne, C. Pharma at an Inflection Point: Where Capital, Technology and Geography Are Reshaping Drug Development Between 2024 and 2025. Foundernest.com. Nov 22, 2025.