Softbank leads $525m round in British drug developer Exscientia
British pharmaceutical company Exscientia has received funding from Softbank Vision Fund just a month after closing its last investment round.
Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to discover new drug molecules and has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 of clinical trials.
The Oxford-based company today announced it had completed a $225m Series D round led by the fund, with an additional $300m equity commitment to be drawn down at the pharmatech’s discretion.
The company already has more than 20 active programmes in its pipeline and will use the fresh funding to advance this through clinical testing. It also said the cash will be used to expand Exscientia’s technology platforms.
“We believe Exscientia’s innovative use of AI to discover and design better quality drugs with greater efficiency has the potential to create important medicines faster than ever before,” Eric Chen, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers, said.
“With the convergence of technology and biology, drug discovery is rapidly evolving in ways that will reshape the industry. The Exscientia team have been leaders in AI-based drug discovery since the field’s inception and we believe they will continue shaping its future,” he added.
Exscientia first announced its Series C round last summer before seeing a fresh injection of $100m from investors including asset manager Blackrock last month.
The company, which employs more than 100 people, has expanded its presence into the US in Boston and Miami.
Other investors in the latest round included Mubadala Investment Company, Farallon Capital, Casdin Capital, GT Healthcare Capital, Marshall Wace, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, Laurion Capital, Hongkou and Bristol Myers Squibb.
“All of our investors share Exscientia’s vision to discover better drugs, faster, through AI and automation,” chief executive Andrew Hopkins said.
“Our patient-first AI platform has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to precision design drugs that address patients’ needs. With the Series D completed, the quality and depth of our shareholder base allows us the freedom to continue to scale both our platform and pipeline.”