BlackRock has joined the University of Dundee spinout’s series C round, following a $60m first close in May last year.
Exscientia, a UK-based drug discovery technology spinout of University of Dundee, increased its series C round to $100m yesterday following a $40m extension supplied by funds managed by BlackRock.
Pharmaceutical firm Novo led a $60m initial tranche in May 2020, which also featured its peer Bristol Myers Squibb as well as drug discovery and development company Evotec and private equity firm GT Healthcare Capital, through unnamed limited partners.
Exscientia exploits artificial intelligence technology to precisely engineer drug candidates rather than employing machine learning only to screen for targets. It will use the series C extension to further develop its platform and move more assets into the clinic.
William Abecassis, head of BlackRock’s Innovation Capital, will join Exscientia’s board of directors as an observer. He said: “Exscientia is breaking ground in small molecule drug design, with a platform that radically improves drug discovery.
“We are thrilled to be investing in this world-class team, who are already delivering results with AI-designed drugs now entering clinical trials.”
GT Apeiron Therapeutics, a drug discovery company owned by GT Healthcare, entered into a collaboration agreement with Exscientia in mid-2019, after the private equity firm had contributed to a $26m series B round earlier that year together with Evotec and pharmaceutical firm Celgene.
Evotec had provided $17.7m in funding in 2017 and commercialisation firm Frontier IP also owns a minority stake in the spinout, having helped establish Exscientia in 2012.
