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
DDN Selected to Modernize Research Data Infrastructure at UNSW Sydney26.10.2026 22:30:00 CET | Press release
DDN EXAScaler and Arcitecta Mediaflux will replace 11 legacy storage systems, simplifying access to research data while balancing performance and cost DDN, the global leader in AI and data intelligence solutions, today announced that UNSW Sydney has selected DDN to deliver a new research data storage environment as part of the university’s Research Data Experience (RDE) program. Working with Australian software company Arcitecta, DDN will combine its EXAScaler parallel file system with Arcitecta’s Mediaflux® data management platform to help researchers spend less time managing data and more time using it. Following an extensive 18-month evaluation, UNSW selected an integrated approach that will replace 11 legacy storage systems with a coordinated environment for high-performance storage and enterprise data management. The decision reflects a broader challenge facing research-intensive institutions: how to support rapidly expanding scientific datasets while simplifying infrastructure, i
Agent Assurance by TestMu AI Is Now Generally Available, Letting Teams Test What Their AI Agents Actually Change26.10.2026 16:15:00 CET | Press release
The trial includes 4,000 credits and four concurrent runs, so a team can generate functional and adversarial suites from its own agent's docs and endpoint, with code optional, and gate CI on evidence-backed verdicts without booking a demo. TestMu AI (formerly LambdaTest), the world's first Agentic AI-powered Quality Engineering platform, today announced the general availability of Agent Assurance. Agent Assurance tests AI agents that take actions, such as calling tools, writing files, and changing records, by checking what a run actually changed rather than what the agent says it did. Any team can now create a TestMu AI account and run it against its own agent without booking a demo first. Agent Assurance launched on August 17, 2026, behind a waitlist and a guided onboarding session. Since then, Rook, the CLI that runs Agent Assurance, has shipped a steady run of releases, shaped by feedback from early teams. Agent evaluation has mostly graded the final reply, and that reply can be wro
Actiphy Announces ImageServer for Centralized Backup Storage and Post-Backup Processing26.10.2026 16:13:00 CET | Press release
New platform combines centralized backup management, Inter-File Deduplication, automated workflows, and remote replication. Actiphy™, Inc., a provider of backup, disaster recovery, and virtualization software, today announced Actiphy ImageServer™, a centralized platform for storing, managing, verifying, and replicating backups created with ActiveImage Protector™. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026410729/en/ Actiphy ImageServer Console ImageServer combines the management capabilities of Actiphy ImageCenter™ with the secure storage of Actiphy StorageServer™. By moving Verify, Replication, Consolidation, and BootCheck™ to a dedicated server, ImageServer reduces processing load on protected systems and simplifies backup administration. As organizations protect more systems and retain more backup generations, storage and administrative demands grow. ImageServer addresses these challenges by centralizing backup
Dubai Chambers Launches World's First Agentic AI Marketplace by a Chamber of Commerce26.10.2026 16:06:00 CET | Press release
Dubai Chambers has launched Chamber AI Hub, the world's first Agentic AI marketplace developed by a chamber of commerce, enabling businesses in Dubai to access ready-to-use AI agents that independently perform a range of administrative and operational tasks. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026467531/en/ H.E. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori Chairman of Dubai Chambers. (Photo: AETOSWire) The marketplace currently offers 22 specialised AI agents across seven business functions including Compliance, Procurement, Operations, Finance, Sales, Human Resources, and Logistics. The offering is set to expand to 100 agents. The initiative supports Dubai's efforts to accelerate the adoption of Agentic AI across the private sector, helping businesses enhance efficiency, strengthen competitiveness, and transform their operating models. H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Chairman of Dubai Chambers, commented: “Success in
Media Release: Allianz Beach Arena for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games Joins the Allianz Family of Stadiums26.10.2026 15:37:00 CET | Press release
First Olympic and Paralympic venue in history to display the Allianz name and the eighth member of the Allianz Family of Stadiums.The nearly 15,000 seat temporary arena on the Long Beach waterfront will host Olympic Beach Volleyball and Paralympic Blind Football (Soccer).Allianz unveils its customized LA28 Games emblem, marking the start of its preparations for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For the first time in Olympic and Paralympic history, a competition venue will carry the Allianz name. The Allianz Beach Arena in Long Beach, California, for the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games will become the newest member of the Allianz Family of Stadiums. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261026919959/en/ Allianz's "custom A" emblem for LA28. From Horse Guards Parade in London to Copacabana Beach in Rio and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Olympic Beach Volleyball has always found its home in iconic settings around th
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