EXSCIENTIA
8.7.2021 10:02:52 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
Exscientia has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gates Philanthropy Partners, as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator. This is to expedite the optimisation of a new class of COVID-19 therapeutics created using its artificial intelligence (AI) drug design platform. Exscientia has demonstrated proof-of-concept by using its AI platform to design a novel class of inhibitors targeting the SARS-CoV-2’s main protease enzyme, Mpro , also known as 3CLpro , the causative agent of COVID-19. Mpro is essential for the replication of coronavirus, so administering an Mpro inhibitor to patients as a standalone antiviral or alongside other concurrent treatments could provide a useful frontline therapy.
Exscientia’s AI-based platform will be used to optimise the novel small molecule inhibitors into a therapeutic development candidate, designed to be active against SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses. The project’s goal is to identify potential pan-coronavirus therapeutics that could be effective against COVID-19, and also new mutations or other SARS viruses that may emerge.
The new grant provided by the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator - an initiative launched by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard to speed up the response to the pandemic - comes in addition to recent backing from the Gates Foundation supporting Exscientia’s work in developing treatments for tuberculosis, malaria and non-hormonal contraceptives which began in January 2021. Under the new grant, Exscientia will receive $1.5 million which will be used to advance a development candidate on achieving defined milestones. The virus protease inhibitors will be designed using Exscientia’s AI-driven drug discovery platform, which delivers optimised compounds, fulfilling complex design goals faster and more effectively than with conventional drug discovery methods.
Dr. Denise Barrault, Senior Portfolio Manager at Exscientia, commented, “The danger of new emerging strains and mutations of coronavirus means there is an urgent need for new antiviral drugs in this pandemic alongside vaccines, to respond more quickly in potential future coronavirus pandemics. We believe that the world needs innovation to accelerate the discovery of more effective counter-measures for a range of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.”
Exscientia has built a track record of improving and accelerating drug discovery by advancing the first three completely AI-designed small molecule drug candidates into clinical trials. In addition to its own proprietary programmes, Exscientia has entered into collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies including Bristol Myers Squibb, Bayer, Sanofi and Dainippon Sumitomo, as well as multiple biotech companies. The company currently has more than 20 partners or wholly owned programmes for diseases involving cancer, immunology, the central nervous system, and genetic mutations.
ENDS
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 three 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210708005344/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
AMINA Becomes the First Regulated Bank to Integrate Leading Crypto Payments Network, Mesh16.7.2026 08:30:00 CEST | Press release
With connectivity across 300+ providers, Mesh’s verified deposit technology eliminates friction from digital asset deposits for AMINA clients AMINA Bank AG (“AMINA”), a Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)-regulated crypto bank with global reach, today becomes the first regulated bank to integrate Mesh, the leading crypto payments network. The integration embeds Mesh’s verified deposit technology directly into AMINA’s online banking platform. This allows clients to verify wallet ownership, and deposit stablecoins and digital assets in a single, streamlined flow across more than 300 wallet providers. No more copying wallet addresses by hand, switching between external tools, or completing the multi-step verification the process historically required. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715917516/en/ AMINA is the first regulated bank on Mesh. Myles Harrison, Chief Product Officer at AMINA, said: “
Garvan Institute of Medical Research Joins Parse Biosciences’ Certified Service Provider Network15.7.2026 22:00:00 CEST | Press release
Researchers across Asia-Pacific gain a new option for high-quality single cell sequencing through Garvan's Evercode WT services Parse Biosciences, a QIAGEN company, and the leader in scalable and accessible single cell sequencing, today announced that the Genomics Platform Core Facility within the Garvan Institute of Medical Research has joined its Certified Service Provider (CSP) Program. The partnership broadens access to high-quality, scalable single cell sequencing across Australia, the wider Asia-Pacific region, and beyond. Garvan is one of Australia's preeminent medical research institutions, with the Genomics Platform having deep experience in cell sorting, capture, and sequencing. As a Certified Service Provider, Garvan will offer Parse's Evercode WT kits to researchers across the region. "We see a growing number of requests for Parse projects and find the technology easy to implement and run, generating great data," said Chris O'Keeffe, Cellular Genomics Lead at the Garvan Ins
Grafana Labs Named a Leader in 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms and Positioned Furthest in Completeness of Vision15.7.2026 20:21:00 CEST | Press release
Named a Leader for the third consecutive year and placed furthest in vision for the second year in a row, the company has had a landmark year of innovation as observability becomes essential infrastructure for teams building and running AI at scale. Grafana Labs, the company behind the open observability cloud, today announced it has been named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms for the third consecutive year, and positioned furthest on the Completeness of Vision axis for the second year running. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715814984/en/ 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Observability Platforms We believe this placement reflects where the market is headed: toward open, composable observability that helps teams in the AI era understand systems that are increasingly complex and agentic, and rapidly scaling thanks to AI-assisted engineering. A Platform Built for the AI Era
Spectro Cloud Raises $100 Million Series D to Help Customers Move AI Infrastructure Into Production Across Enterprise, Public Sector, Neocloud and Sovereign Cloud Environments15.7.2026 18:20:00 CEST | Press release
Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives leads oversubscribed round with strategic participation from AMD Ventures, Ericsson, LG Technology Ventures, and Maximus as organizations look to turn AI silicon into business outcomes Spectro Cloud, a leading provider of AI infrastructure management software, today announced it has raised more than $100 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with strategic participation from AMD Ventures, Ericsson, LG Technology Ventures, and Maximus. The new funding brings Spectro Cloud’s total capital raised to $260 million and will accelerate the company’s mission to help enterprises, public sector organizations, neoclouds and sovereign clouds build and operate production AI infrastructure with greater control over cost, security and governance. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715551858/en/ Spectro Cloud raises $
K-Beauty Goes Global: Sales Surge 53% as Korean Innovation Reshapes Beauty Growth15.7.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
New NIQ data shows K-Beauty value sales rose 53% year-over-year and 131% over two years, underscoring how regional beauty trends, social commerce and ingredient-led innovation are reshaping global beauty growth. NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today released new findings showing K-Beauty has become a rapidly growing global beauty segment, with value sales up 53% year-over-year and 131% over the past two years. The data points to a broader shift in beauty growth, as regional innovation, social commerce and digitally driven consumer demand increasingly shape what scales globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260715867578/en/ K-Beauty accelerates across global markets In its latest report, K-Beauty Goes Global, NIQ shows how Korean beauty is reshaping consumer expectations, accelerating innovation cycles and redefining competitive dynamics across the global beauty market. What began
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