Short seller Scorpion Capital bets against Twist Biosciences questioning AI partnership claims

Investing.com -- Short seller Scorpion Capital said Wednesday that Twist Biosciences' connection to Anthropic does not represent a material AI drug-discovery partnership as suggested by some analysts.

The short seller said Anthropic's blog post refers to Twist Biosciences as an "independent contract research organization" rather than a technology partner. Anthropic's note stated that Claude-designed proteins achieved a 22% to 35% success rate in binding their targets, compared to a typical 10% to 15% hit rate for standard protein-design campaigns.

Scorpion Capital said this improvement means scientists would need to order approximately half as many physical constructs per successful binder.

Twist filed an 8-K under Item 7.01 Reg FD following Anthropic's post, rather than under Item 1.01 Entry Into A Material Definitive Agreement, according to Scorpion Capital.

TD Cowen analyst Brendan Smith identified Anthropic as a Twist customer on Tuesday, stating this supports the quality and durability of AI-driven demand for Twist. Piper Sandler analyst David Westenberg described the relationship as a partnership in a subsequent note.

Anthropic's blog post describes Twist as an "external evaluator" that provided wet-lab production and testing services, Scorpion Capital said.

Scorpion Capital disclosed it holds a short position in Twist Biosciences.

You May Also Be Interested In

• RBC Capital Starts Shake Shack (SHAK) at Outperform
• Gaming Realms PLC Announces Interim Results
• UBS Upgrades EchoStar Corporation (ECHO) to Buy