Cohere Inc. is edging into the life sciences sector with the acquisition of a data analytics platform servicing the biopharma industry.
The Canadian artificial intelligence company announced the purchase Tuesday but would not say how much it is paying for Reliant AI nor how the deal is structured.
The transaction marries Cohere, a seven-year-old firm making AI tools for businesses including RBC, Bell and Oracle, with a more nascent company cornering the lucrative and crucial biopharmaceutical industry.
Reliant AI’s technology makes it easier for life sciences teams to collect, organize and analyze complex data. Products from the firm founded in 2023 are being used by GSK PLC, Kyowa Kirin and OMass Therapeutics.
Cohere chief executive Aidan Gomez positioned the purchase as a way to deepen his company’s work across health care and biopharma.
Health care alone “represents one of the most consequential opportunities for AI” and “demands secure, sovereign, and domain-specific systems,” he said in a statement.
“Together, we will accelerate progress in health care, building on our shared footprint across Canada and Germany to serve these critical sectors.”
As part of the acquisition, Reliant’s staff of about 30 will make the leap to its new parent company, said Cohere spokesperson Patrick Allen.
Reliant AI co-founder and CEO Karl Moritz Hermann will become Cohere’s vice-president of AI verticalizations. Reliant co‑founder Marc Bellemare, based in Montreal, will become Cohere’s vice-president of modelling.
Moritz Hermann saw the sale of his company, which has offices in Montreal, Berlin and Denver, as a way to securely scale the work Reliant has done.
“Our combined expertise will accelerate drug discovery and research innovation for customers around the world,” his statement said.
Cohere’s purchase comes as it is in the process of merging with German AI firm Aleph Alpha. The firm they will form will use the Cohere name and be “anchored in” Germany and Canada, if Aleph Alpha shareholders approve the deal.
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Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2026.
