Dundee spinout Exscientia is continuing a busy fundraising year with a filing for an IPO in the US and a $35m concurrent private placement.
Exscientia, a UK-based drug discovery technology spinout of University of Dundee, filed for an initial public offering in the US on Friday, using a customary $100m placeholder amount.
The spinout has not yet determined how many American Depositary Shares it will issue, or at what price, but has secured a commitment from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to raise $35m in a concurrent private placement.
Founded in 2012, Exscientia has created an artificial intelligence-based end-to-end target identification, drug design and patient selection platform. It has three assets in phase 1 trials – one developed internally and two in partnership with pharmaceutical firm Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma.
Proceeds from the offering and private placement will go towards further platform development, the completion of the phase 1 study for Exscientia’s internal candidate, and proof-of-concept studies.
The spinout will dedicate some $70m to its pandemic preparedness programme and will…
Thierry Heles
Thierry Heles is the editor of Global University Venturing, host of the Beyond the Breakthrough interview podcast and responsible for the monthly GUV Gazette (sign up here for free).
