Celgene and Evotec have put capital into Exscientia as the Dundee-founded automated drug discovery services provider added Roche to its roster of development partners.
Exscientia, a UK-based drug discovery technology spinout of University of Dundee, received $26m yesterday in a series B round backed by pharmaceutical developer Celgene and drug developer Evotec.
The deal also includes funding from venture firm GT Healthcare Capital Partners. Commercialisation firm Frontier IP, an existing investor in Exscientia, owns a 3.3% stake in the spinout following the transaction.
Founded in 2012, Exscientia has devised an automated drug discovery technology that applies artificial intelligence (AI) to understandings gained from historic datasets in addition to experimental information amassed during drug design programs. The company’s services include the AI discovery system Centaur Chemist.
In addition to the series B funding, Exscientia has announced an up to Sfr67m ($68m) collaboration agreement with pharmaceutical firm Roche enabling the corporate to access Centaur Chemist for its pre-clinical drug discovery campaign.
Under the agreement, Roche will keep exclusive rights to develop and…
