Siemens to buy life sciences R&D company Dotmatics for $5.1B – News

German industrial giant Siemens AG said today it will pay $5.1 billion to acquire the life sciences data startup Dotmatics in an effort to expand its artificial intelligence offerings.

The company said the deal to acquire Dotmatics, officially known as GraphPad Software LLC, is expected to close in the first half of 2026, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Boston-based Dotmatics was founded in 2005 by the former Merck & Co. scientists Stephen Gallagher and Alastair Hill, and claims that more than two million scientists in 125 countries use its “Science Intelligence” platform to digitize lab data, enhance collaboration and analyze their research findings.

Siemens wants to combine Dotmatic’s data applications with its AI, manufacturing and industrial-simulation tools in order to connect development processes from the research and development stage all the way to end manufacturing operations. The acquisition will increase its total addressable market within the industrial software sector by up to $11 billion, it said.

The German company has long been trying to leverage AI to accelerate innovation across industries.

“Artificial intelligence has emerged as a transformative force across various industries and its application in life sciences is increasingly important,” said Siemens Chief Executive Roland Bursch in a statement.

Dotmatics CES Thomas Swalla said the combination of his company’s platform and Siemens AI and digital twin technologies will drive “a new wave of innovation” in life sciences R&D.

Siemens said it intends to finance the deal primarily via the sale of shares in listed companies, such as Siemens Healthineers.

Dotmatics, which is backed by the venture capital firm Insight Partners, anticipates it will generate more than $300 million in revenue during the current fiscal year. According to Siemens, it’s already very profitable, with an earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA margin of more than 40%.

Once the acquisition closes, Siemens says it will see near-term revenue synergies of around $100 million per year, rising to more than $500 million annually over the long term. It will be immediately accretive to the company’s growth, prior to considering any synergies, it added.

Insight Partners first invested in Dotmatics in 2017, and was part of a fund that acquired the company outright in 2021 for around $500 million. In a report last December, Bloomberg said Insight was exploring options for Dotmatics.

“The transition of Dotmatics from Insight Partners to Siemens represents a logical next step, empowering Dotmatics to further advance its mission of accelerating innovation within life sciences,” said Insight Partners Managing Director Jared Rosen in a statement to Bloomberg.

For Siemens, the deal will be the sixth-biggest in its history, out of hundreds of acquisitions it has made over its more than 100-year existence. Last year, it paid $10 billion to buy a company called Altair Engineering Inc., which is its biggest acquisition to date.

Photo: Siemens AG