University of Dundee intelligent drug design spinout Exscientia has struck a business deal with Celgene after raising series B funding from the corporate in January.
Exscientia, a UK-based small molecule discovery technology spinout of University of Dundee, received $25m today through a three-year drug design collaboration with pharmaceutical developer Celgene.
The up-front payment could be augmented by additional funding on the fulfilment of milestones related to clinical, regulatory and commercial considerations.
Exscientia will also receive tiered royalties on any product sales resulting from the partnership, which will exploit the spinout’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Centaur Chemist platform to uncover small molecule candidates for three Celgene programs targeting oncology and autoimmune diseases.
Founded in 2012, Exscientia uses its AI technology to speed up the drug discovery process. The platform starts by selecting the best candidates from millions of potential compounds drawn from prior scientific research, before exposing them to a cycle of experiments through which new datapoints are attained and integrated.
The Celgene partnership follows a $68m tie-up with another drug maker, Roche,…
