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
Ningbo FEED Meeting Confirms Full Confidence in Q1 2027 FID for Allied Biofuels’ US$6.1 Billion Presidential Decree-Backed SAF and e-SAF Project18.9.2026 17:38:00 CEST | Press release
Allied Biofuels has held a major Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) meeting at Sinopec’s office in Ningbo, China, bringing together Allied Biofuels, Sinopec Engineering Group Co., Ltd. of China, Topsoe A/S of Denmark, Sasol South Africa Limited, and Plug Power of the United States — the principal international engineering and technology providers supporting its US$6.1 billion Presidential Decree-backed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) and e-SAF project in Uzbekistan. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260918708077/en/ FEED Meeting - Ningbo, China At the joint FEED meeting of the project’s core engineering and technology stakeholders, the discussions established clear alignment on engineering responsibilities, technology interfaces, design deliverables, project integration and the coordinated execution programme required to advance the project through FEED. All stakeholders working on the project expressed full co
Corcept Announces CHMP Opinion Recommending EU Marketing Authorization for Lifyorli® (Relacorilant)18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol, today announced that the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has recommended that the European Commission (EC) should approve relacorilant, combined with the chemotherapy drug nab-paclitaxel, for the treatment of patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. The CHMP’s recommendation is based on positive data from Corcept’s Phase 2 and pivotal Phase 3 ROSELLA trials, in which patients receiving relacorilant combined with nab-paclitaxel experienced improved progression-free and overall survival compared to patients who received nab-paclitaxel alone. The safety profile of relacorilant plus nab-paclitaxel in these trials was consistent with the safety profile of nab-paclitaxel monoth
Enhertu® Recommended for Approval in the EU by CHMP as Adjuvant Treatment for Patients with Residual Disease After Neoadjuvant Treatment for HER2 Positive Early Breast Cancer18.9.2026 14:00:00 CEST | Press release
Recommendation based on DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial results that showed Enhertu reduced the risk of invasive disease recurrence or death by 53% versus T-DM1 Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca’s Enhertu has the potential to become a new standard of care in this early breast cancer setting Enhertu® (trastuzumab deruxtecan) has been recommended for approval in the European Union (EU) as a monotherapy for the adjuvant treatment of adult patients with resected HER2 positive breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant taxane-based and HER2 targeted treatment. Enhertu is a specifically engineered HER2 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC) discovered by Daiichi Sankyo (TSE: 4568) and being jointly developed and commercialized by Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN). The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) based its positive opinion on results from the DESTINY-Breast05 phase 3 trial presented at th
CHMP Recommends EU Approval of New Indication for Alfasigma’s Jyseleca® (filgotinib), Treatment of Adults With Axial Spondyloarthritis18.9.2026 12:58:00 CEST | Press release
The information contained within this press release is for the purpose of scientific exchange.It is intended for scientific, financial and investor media only.If approved, Jyselecawill be indicated for the treatment of patients with active axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), both non-radiographic and radiographic forms of the disease, who have responded inadequately to conventional therapy.Despite the availability of multiple treatment options, nearly half of people living with axSpA do not respond adequately to current therapies, and just 10-20% reach inactive disease within 16-24 weeks of initiating treatment.CHMP’s positive opinion is based on findings from the OLINGUITO Phase 3 study, where improvements in the signs and symptoms of axSpA with filgotinib were observed early and maintained over 52 weeks of treatment.Jyselecais already approved in Europe and the United Kingdom, for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis. Alfasigma S.p.A, a global
IMPACT Therapeutics and Pharmanovia Announce Positive CHMP Opinion for Senaparib, as a Potential First-Line Maintenance Treatment of Advanced High-Grade Epithelial Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, and Primary Peritoneal Cancer18.9.2026 12:38:00 CEST | Press release
For business and medical media only This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260918325771/en/ Stephan Eder, CEO, Pharmanovia IMPACT Therapeutics (07630.HK), a commercial-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of targeted anti-cancer therapeutics based on synthetic lethality mechanisms, together with global specialty pharmaceutical company Pharmanovia, today jointly announce that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has adopted a positive opinion recommending the granting of a Marketing Authorisation (MA) for the medicinal product Sepalna® (senaparib) intended for the maintenance treatment of advance epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancer. Following the CHMP’s recommendation for approval, senaparib will be submitted to the European Commission (EC) for final decision. Once approved by the EC, senaparib will
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