Participated · Series D · Apr 2021

Exscientia applies AI across target identification, drug design and patient selection to precision-engineer new medicines. Its platform integrates high-content phenomics, biophysics and deep learning to translate biological data into proprietary AI-driven molecule design. The company has advanced the first two fully AI-designed drugs into clinical trials and now reports over 20 active programs in its pipeline. Exscientia says it has progressed seven precision-designed projects from initiation to development candidate in an average of 12 months. Funding announced in the Series D will be used to advance its proprietary pipeline through clinical testing and to expand the technology platform toward autonomous drug design. The company maintains offices in Oxford, Miami, Osaka and Dundee. Exscientia is a clinical-stage pharmatech that uses artificial intelligence via its CentaurAI™ platform to design new small-molecule drugs. The company produced the first fully AI-designed drug to enter clinical trials and has advanced multiple candidates into preclinical testing. Exscientia also conducts drug discovery partnerships with Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi, Bayer and Dainippon Sumitomo, as well as several biotech companies. The $100 million Series C financing will be used to push the platform toward autonomous drug design, extend the proprietary pipeline into clinical trials, and expand biological analytics for target selection and portfolio development. The company employs over 100 people from more than 20 nations, about 60% of whom hold PhDs, and has doubled in size over the past year with plans to double again in 2021. Exscientia recently expanded into the US with operations in Miami and Boston and has been named among the fastest growing private biotech/pharmaceutical companies in the UK and in the Financial Times FT1000. Exscientia develops AI-driven drug-discovery platforms, chiefly Centaur Chemist and Centaur Biologist, to design and prioritise novel therapeutic compounds and targets. Centaur Chemist automatically designs and evolves compounds, including bispecific small molecules for dual-targeting, while Centaur Biologist applies knowledge graphs and deep learning to qualify targets at genome scale. The company says it pioneered use of AI to design a novel molecule to enter the clinic. A $4.2M (≈€3.44M) grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will fund application of its Centaur platforms to identify targets and leads for malaria, tuberculosis and non-hormonal contraception. Exscientia was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Oxford, with offices in Dundee, the USA, and Japan. It collaborates with leading pharmaceutical and life-sciences companies to build its own portfolio of innovative medicines. Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to discover and design small-molecule drugs, claiming its platform can accelerate the time from idea to viable drug candidates. Earlier this year the company said the first precision-engineered drug designed using AI entered Phase I human clinical trials for obsessive-compulsive disorder. The company is expanding its portfolio and pipeline and plans to bolster AI biology as part of its "full-stack capabilities." Exscientia also intends to accelerate international expansion, including building out its presence in the United States. It is working on COVID-19 antiviral treatments through a joint initiative with Calibr and Diamond Light Source. CEO and founder Prof. Andrew Hopkins emphasized the platform's ability to fast-track the R&D process. Exscientia is an Oxford, England-based artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery and design company. Its Centaur Chemist platform automatically designs and prioritizes novel compounds for synthesis and rapidly evolves compounds toward desired candidate criteria. The company collaborates with pharmaceutical and life sciences firms including GSK, Sanofi, Roche and Evotec. Led by CEO and founder Professor Andrew Hopkins and Executive Chairman Alex Snow, Exscientia uses AI to improve drug efficacy and productivity. Financially, the company completed a Series B financing and intends to use the proceeds to scale its pipeline and advance selected programmes toward clinical development.