Exscientia Secures $26 Million Series B Financing Led by Celgene to Advance AI-Driven Drug Discovery
VCBeat (WeChat: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that on January 7, 2019, UK time, Exscientia, an AI-driven drug discovery company, announced the completion of a $26 million Series B financing round. The round was participated in by new investors Celgene and GT Healthcare Capital, a specialized healthcare investor, as well as existing investor Evotec AG.
Exscientia, founded in 2012 and headquartered in the United Kingdom, has developed an artificial intelligence platform that automates drug discovery and development. The compounds generated by its AI system integrate potency, selectivity, and pharmacokinetic criteria, thereby enhancing their therapeutic efficacy. Its product pipeline includes small molecules with dual pharmacology and bispecific small molecules guided by high-content phenotypic data. The company also offers phenotypic drug design, directly engineering compounds based on phenotypic and high-content screening data.
Andrew Hopkins, Founder and CEO of Exscientia, stated that many members of Exscientia are dedicated to early-stage IT systems that collect data from multiple sources—such as structure-activity relationship (SAR) data from patents and literature—and apply it effectively to drug research and development. The next critical step is to develop an automated drug design system capable of integrating the collected data with a wide range of other input information, such as internal high-throughput screening (HTS) results, fragment-based screening data, and protein structural data, thereby enabling the efficient design of novel, patentable chemical entities for synthesis and analysis.
(Image source: Exscientia's official website)
When used appropriately, artificial intelligence can enhance the efficiency of drug discovery and advance the most promising candidates into clinical application. Andrew Hopkins added, “We are greatly encouraged by the results achieved in our projects; the progress of molecules through the development process will demonstrate the benefits of AI-driven R&D approaches. The challenge we face lies in developing applications that effectively leverage AI, rather than in issues concerning AI itself.”
Exscientia’s Centaur Chemist platform enhances drug production efficiency and employs novel approaches to improve drug efficacy. Novel compounds are automatically designed and prioritized for synthesis through its artificial intelligence system, thereby meeting the candidate criteria required for clinical development.
Alan Au, Managing Partner at GT Healthcare Capital Partners, stated, “We are delighted to support Exscientia and collaborate with its world-class team to further expand its business. We share a common vision of revolutionizing the traditional drug development process, and we believe that Exscientia has the capability to deliver best-in-class therapeutics—going beyond cost-efficiency and speed—to benefit patients in the near future.”
Andrew Hopkins, CEO and Founder of Exscientia, added, “This financing marks a milestone in our company’s development, enabling us to drive the next phase of business growth. Over the past 12 months, we have significantly expanded our operations and capabilities, evolving into a fully integrated AI-driven drug discovery and development company. Furthermore, our unique Centaur Chemist platform allows us to rapidly translate innovative ideas into novel drug molecule research, thereby preparing candidates for Investigational New Drug (IND) applications and clinical development. With this new funding, Exscientia will emerge as a leader in AI-powered drug discovery, spearheading a fundamental transformation in R&D productivity.”
Exscientia’s innovative Centaur Chemist platform enables breakthrough productivity gains and improved drug efficacy. Novel compounds are automatically designed and prioritized for synthesis by its AI system, thereby rapidly advancing them to the candidate standards required for clinical development.
Headquartered in New Jersey, USA, Celgene Corporation is a comprehensive global biopharmaceutical company primarily dedicated to researching therapeutic approaches for diseases related to protein homeostasis, immuno-oncology, epigenetics, immunology, and neuroinflammation. It develops innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammatory diseases while advancing their commercialization.
GT Healthcare Capital Partners is an Asia-headquartered private investment partnership firm specializing in global life sciences investments aimed at transforming the technological landscape.
Evotec is a drug development and investment company dedicated to rapidly advancing innovative therapeutic approaches in collaboration with leading biopharmaceutical technology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups, and venture capitalists. By assembling top-tier scientific experts, integrating cutting-edge technologies, and leveraging extensive experience and expertise in key therapeutic areas—including neurological disorders, diabetes and its complications, pain and inflammation, oncology, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases, and fibrosis—Evotec has established a unique position in the industry. The company has forged long-term partnerships with numerous organizations, such as Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, CHDI, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda, and UCB.