EXSCIENTIA
27.4.2021 18:32:11 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Exscientia, a clinical stage pharmatech company using artificial intelligence (AI) to design patient-based drugs, announced that it has completed a $225 million Series D funding round. SoftBank Vision Fund 2i led the Series D and was joined by previous round lead investors, Novo Holdings and funds managed by Blackrock. Other investors included Mubadala Investment Company, Farallon Capital, Casdin Capital, GT Healthcare Capital, Marshall Wace, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Laurion Capital, Hongkou and Bristol-Myers Squibb. In addition, SoftBank is providing an additional $300 million equity commitment that can be drawn at the Company’s discretion.
Exscientia uses AI across its platform from target identification through drug design and patient selection in order to precision engineer new medicines. The Company has advanced the first two fully AI-designed drugs into clinical trials and now has over 20 active programs in its pipeline. Funding from the Series D round will be used to advance Exscientia’s proprietary pipeline through clinical testing as well as to continue expanding the technology platform toward autonomous drug design.
Commenting on the investment, Eric Chen, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We believe Exscientia’s innovative use of AI to discover and design better quality drugs with greater efficiency has the potential to create important medicines faster than ever before. With the convergence of technology and biology, drug discovery is rapidly evolving in ways that will reshape the industry. The Exscientia team have been leaders in AI-based drug discovery since the field's inception and we believe they will continue shaping its future.”
Exscientia has built and integrated a broad array of AI and experimental technologies to capture and utilize the most patient-relevant data to precision design drugs for multiparameter optimization. The Company’s platform evaluates the target and mechanism through high content phenomics, novel biophysics and deep learning from biological data. That information is then translated into the design of precision drugs through proprietary AI algorithms driven by thousands of models. By remaking the process of drug discovery, Exscientia is also able to reset industry standards for productivity. To date, the Company has been able to advance seven precision designed drugs from project initiation to development candidate in an average time of 12 months.
Andrew Hopkins, CEO of Exscientia added, “All of our investors share Exscientia’s vision to discover better drugs, faster, through AI and automation. Our patient-first AI platform has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to precision design drugs that address patients’ needs. With the Series D completed, the quality and depth of our shareholder base allows us the freedom to continue to scale both our platform and pipeline.”
About Exscientia
Exscientia is an AI-driven pharmatech company committed to discovering and designing the best possible medicines in the fastest and most effective manner. Exscientia is the first company to progress AI-designed small molecules into the clinical setting and repeatedly demonstrate the ability of AI to transform how drugs are created. Exscientia’s AI platform has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 human clinical trials.
Drug design is precision engineering at the molecular scale. Exscientia has built dedicated AI systems that efficiently learn from the widest range of data and consistently reapply enhanced knowledge through iterations of design. Because Exscientia’s AI platform learns more effectively and rapidly than human-led efforts alone, candidate molecules satisfying complex therapeutic requirements are created with revolutionary efficiency. Exscientia believes that designing better drugs, faster, will allow the best ideas of science to rapidly become the best medicines for patients.
Exscientia has offices in Oxford, Miami, Osaka and Dundee. For more information visit us on www.exscientia.ai or follow us on Twitter @exscientiaAI .
i As of the date of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to allow investments by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (“SVF 2”) in certain portfolio companies. The information included herein is made for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy limited partnership interests in any fund, including SVF 2. SVF 2 has yet to have an external close, and any potential third-party investors shall receive additional information related to any SVF 2 investments prior to closing. |
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210427005905/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Merz Therapeutics and Kvvit Enter Exclusive Agreement for INBRIJA® (levodopa inhalation powder) in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao26.5.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Kvvit to lead local development, regulatory activities and commercialization of INBRIJA® in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao Under the agreement, Merz Therapeutics will receive upfront, development and commercial milestone payments, and tiered supply and royalty arrangements, with no manufacturing rights granted to Kvvit Merz Therapeutics GmbH and Jiangxi Kvvit Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. today announced that the companies have entered into an exclusive license and collaboration agreement regarding INBRIJA® (levodopa inhalation powder) and its proprietary inhalation device for the intermittent treatment of episodic motor fluctuations (OFF episodes) in adult patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) treated with a levodopa/dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macao. Under the agreement, Merz will supply INBRIJA® and retain responsibility for global product quality and key regulatory activities. Kvvit will lead development, regulatory activities and commercializat
Poland’s Poznan University of Technology Unveils IQM Quantum Computer to Drive Research and Education26.5.2026 08:49:00 CEST | Press release
IQM Radiance R1 is the first on-premises quantum computer for the PUT. The university aims to use the system to spearhead quantum education and research while boosting STEM in the country. This is the second operational quantum computer deployed in Poland by IQM. The university recognizes the significant long-term potential of integrating quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing (HPC), and intends to play a key role in shaping this transformation in Europe. Poznan University of Technology (PUT) has launched its first locally installed quantum computer, deployed by IQM Quantum Computers, to advance education and scientific research in the field of quantum technologies. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260525424085/en/ The moment Poland switched on IQM's second quantum computer. Minister of Science and Higher Education Dr. Marcin Kulasek, IQM CEO Jan Goetz and CCO Sylwia de Weyde
BearingPoint Introduces Fully Sovereign On-Premise Infrastructure for GenAI and Agentic AI in Europe26.5.2026 08:30:00 CEST | Press release
BearingPoint is expanding its AI portfolio with a fully owned, sovereign on-premise and edge infrastructure designed specifically for generative and agentic AI workloads in highly regulated industries and public administrations in Europe. Building on decades of experience operating its own sovereign cloud, the firm now offers clients both dedicated hardware and token-based access to large language models – fully GDPR-compliant, ISO-certified and, on request, NIS2- and DORA-ready BearingPoint announces the launch of the BearingPoint Fully-Owned Sovereign Infrastructure Stack, an infrastructure platform designed, operated, and managed entirely by BearingPoint for GenAI and agentic AI applications, consistently engineered for European sovereignty, compliance, and security. With its own data center in Graz, the solution enables companies and public institutions to run sensitive AI workloads in fully controlled, EU-based environments – from initial innovation projects to mission-critical sc
Bial Announces Completion of Phase 2b ACTIVATE Study with BIA 28-6156 in GBA1-Associated Parkinson’s26.5.2026 08:00:00 CEST | Press release
Study Topline results will be released around the end of Q2 2026 BIA 28-6156 is being developed as a potential first-in-class disease-modifying therapy in GBA-PD Bial was present at the GBA1 conference and is currently attending the World Parkinson Congress Bial, an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on neurosciences and rare diseases, today announced the completion of the treatment period in its Phase 2b ACTIVATE study of BIA 28-6156 (pariceract) in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who have a pathogenic mutation in the glucocerebrosidase 1 (GBA1) gene (GBA-PD). Upon completion of the 78-week double-blind treatment period and all scheduled safety follow-ups, data cleaning and analysis are currently ongoing. Topline results will be released around the end of Q2. A status report on the ACTIVATE study was presented in an oral presentation at the 3rd International GBA1 Meeting 2026. The team is currently attending the 7th World Parkinson Congress, taking place in Pho
Oticon Medical Introduces Ponto™ Instant, Expanding Non-Surgical Choice with Instant HearBand and Instant SoundConnector26.5.2026 07:00:00 CEST | Press release
Oticon Medical today announces its new non-surgical portfolio, Ponto Instant, designed to broaden access to bone conduction hearing and offer more choice for users and hearing care professionals. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260525771593/en/ Left: Instant HearBand, a discreet behind-the-head wearable solution that offers an alternative to Softband 5. Right: Instant SoundConnector, a small accessory fitted to a cap or other headwear, providing another non-surgical way to wear a Ponto sound processor. The Ponto Instant portfolio includes Softband 5, Oticon Medical’s established and trusted non-surgical solution, and now expands with the launch of Instant HearBand and Instant SoundConnector, further strengthening its wearable offering for children and adults who prefer a non-surgical solution. Instant HearBand: a discreet new wearable alternative As part of the new portfolio, Instant HearBand is introduced as
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom
