Exscientia plans to advance its pipeline of AI-designed drugs into clinical testing. Here are the top line bullets you need to know.
Exscientia, a company focusing on AI-powered drug discovery, has raised $225M in a Series D led by SoftBank Group. It also secured a $300M convertible note from SoftBank.
How’s the company performing?
- Oxford-based Exscientia uses AI to precision engineer new drugs. The company has pushed 2 drugs into clinical trials to date and has another 20 active programs in the pipeline.
- In January 2020, Exscientia and partner Dainippon Pharma announced that their first AI-designed drug candidate, a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder, had advanced into clinical trials. The process took just a year, compared to the average timeline of 4.5 years.
- Exscientia currently has over 100 employees across 20 countries and recently expanded into the US, in Miami and Boston.
- It has raised more than $672M to date. In March 2021, Exscientia raised a $40M Series C-II with participation from BlackRock.
Source: Exscientia
Why does the market matter?
- Global market for AI in pharma is expected to reach $8.2B by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 47%, according to Facts and Factors.
- The convergence of AI and biology has led to a revolution in drug discovery, cutting cost and productivity parameters, accelerating demand for AI in pharma.
- Speeding clinical trials by identifying the right candidates using AI allows drugs to reach the market faster.
- There were 27 big pharma partnerships for AI-based drug discovery, up from just 4 in 2015, according to GlobalData Healthcare.
