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
LTM Introduces BlueVerse™ OneToken with Harnessing Capabilities to Optimize Token Spend24.9.2026 10:30:00 CEST | Press release
Helps organizations run and scale AI with greater control, transparency and accountability LTM, the Business Creativity partner to the world’s largest enterprises, today announced BlueVerse™ OneToken, a workload routing and governance layer with Harnessing Capabilities that automatically channels enterprise AI requests to the right model at the right cost. As enterprises scale agentic workflows, requests are often routed to expensive frontier models even when lower-cost options can deliver the required outcome. BlueVerse OneToken manages model selection across workloads including code, voice, service, research and agents, matching each task with the most appropriate model, based on the client’s quality, security and performance requirements. Clients can deploy BlueVerse OneToken over their existing AI environment, giving them a single subscription for AI consumption enabling them to consume AI through their existing cloud providers using OneToken plug-ins, available across AWS, Google
MVC Group Acquires Tailfin, Entering the Premium Bikepacking Sector24.9.2026 10:30:00 CEST | Press release
The acquisition expands MVC's portfolio with best-in-class solutions in a category highly complementary to Castelli and Sportful's technical cycling apparelTailfin will accelerate its international expansion through synergies with MVC Group's global platform MVC Group, a group specialising in technical apparel for cycling and outdoor sports, announces the acquisition of Tailfin, the global leader in the premium technical bikepacking segment. Founded in Bristol in 2017 by Nick Broadbent – CEO, mechanical engineer and product designer – Tailfin has rapidly established itself as a leading international name in premium bikepacking bags, racks and accessories, combining design and performance with a strong focus on innovation. The company has developed proprietarytechnologies protected by more than 20 granted and pending patents, building a leading position based on engineering excellence, materials research and rigorous product development and validation processes. Over the past five years
CAIRDAC Announces the Appointment of Raymond W. Cohen as Chairman of its Board of Directors24.9.2026 09:49:00 CEST | Press release
CAIRDAC, SA, a pre-revenue stage medtech company developing a leadless, self-powered cardiac pacemaker (Autonomous Leadless Pacing System), today announced the appointment of Raymond W. Cohen as chairman of its board of directors. “We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Cohen to the CAIRDAC board of directors,” said Edouard Fonck, Chief Executive Officer of CAIRDAC, “Ray’s extensive track record in leading, scaling and exiting medical technology companies will, no doubt, be invaluable as we advance this exciting project.” Mr. Cohen, an accredited public company director and accomplished medical technology executive, has over four decades of medtech industry experience. He was the co-founder and CEO of Axonics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AXNX) a global leader in implantable neuromodulation devices that completed its initial public offering in 2018. Under his leadership, Axonics was recognized as the fastest-growing technology company in North America generating over $1.2 billion in revenue in the four years
Glass Lewis and Clarity AI Join Forces to Integrate Sustainability, Governance and Stewardship24.9.2026 09:30:00 CEST | Press release
Integrated platform will connect investment and stewardship decisions through trusted data, AI analytics, and technology Glass Lewis and Clarity AI today announced their combination, merging Clarity AI’s advanced technology, deep sustainability data, AI analytics, and strong European market presence with Glass Lewis’ global expertise across corporate governance, proxy voting and investment stewardship. The strategic combination significantly expands the firms’ ability to serve European institutional investors and companies through enhanced local market expertise, broader sustainability capabilities and faster product development that addresses Europe’s evolving regulatory and stewardship requirements. The integrated platform fills a solutions gap as institutional investors increasingly seek to bring together investment analysis, sustainability, governance, engagement and voting rather than manage them through separate systems, datasets and workflows. At the same time, companies are con
Wolters Kluwer integrates Libra AI workflows into monKEY for Belgian tax professionals24.9.2026 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
The add-in of Libra by Wolters Kluwer brings AI capabilities directly into monKEY’s trusted tax research environment and marks an important milestone in further expanding Libra’s presence across different customer segments Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory today announced the integration of Libra AI workflows in monKEY, its research platform for tax professionals in Belgium. The add-in of Libra by Wolters Kluwer enables customers to directly access Libra’s AI capabilities from the trusted research environment in monKEY, combining generative AI with tax research based on long-trusted expert content. “By integrating Libra into monKEY, we are taking another important step towards connected, AI-powered workflows for our customers,” said Rimco Spanjer, Vice President & Managing Director, Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Benelux. “We are bringing together the power of AI and the trusted, up-to-date tax content professionals rely on every day. This helps them reach relevant insights faster w
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