Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR) announced plans to launch an AI-powered autonomous lab designed to help researchers develop custom antibodies and other molecular tools. The lab is expected to operate at scale in early 2027.

Based at Abcam, a Danaher subsidiary, the lab will combine artificial intelligence, robotics, and technologies from several Danaher operating companies, including Beckman Coulter Life Sciences, Cytiva, Genedata, Integrated DNA Technologies, and Molecular Devices. Device orchestration and robotic automation were developed in collaboration with Automata, a company that received an investment from Danaher in January 2026.

According to the company's press release, the lab is designed to deliver up to eight times faster discovery of affinity reagents and up to a tenfold increase in annual reagent generation, scaling from tens to hundreds of reagents per year. The system uses a continuous design-make-test-learn loop, where each result is fed back into the AI model to inform the next design cycle.

"Speed is what supercharges that cycle. Every result sharpens the next design, so the faster each loop runs, the faster discovery compounds," said JC Gutierrez-Ramos, Senior Vice President and Chief Science Officer of Danaher.

Julie Sawyer Montgomery, President and Chief Executive Officer of Danaher, said the autonomous lab reflects "the kind of progress Danaher is uniquely positioned to deliver" by applying science, technology, and continuous improvement practices.

Danaher described the lab as the first step in a broader initiative to build smart instruments, integrated workflows, and additional autonomous labs. The company said the approach is intended to produce AI-ready data and include expert-level automated systems to simplify operation and improve data quality.

The announcement did not include financial terms or projected revenue associated with the initiative.