Exscientia Launches AWS AI-powered Platform to Advance Drug Discovery
July 10 2024 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
— State-of-the-art platform, built using Amazon
Web Services technologies, integrates generative AI drug design and
robotic lab automation to further accelerate Exscientia’s ability
to deliver high quality drug candidates at faster speed and lower
cost —
Exscientia plc (Nasdaq: EXAI) today announced it will be
expanding its work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to use the cloud
provider’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)
services to power its platform for end-to-end drug discovery and
automation.
Exscientia’s platform uses generative AI models and the
scalability and flexibility of AWS to securely, quickly and
efficiently design drug candidates that aim to better target
specific diseases and patients, with the goal of accelerating early
drug development at a lower cost. The industry-standard pace of
drug discovery is hampered by conventional high-throughput
screening (HTS) approaches, which involves outsourcing large-scale
chemical synthesis and biological testing to contract research
organisations. Exscientia deploys generative AI in its DesignStudio
to ‘learn’ rather than to ‘screen’ for discoveries in vast chemical
space. The company’s UK based AutomationStudio then synthesises and
tests drug candidates that were identified by its DesignStudio as
having high potential, making extensive use of state-of-the-art
robotics to drive efficiency in the molecular synthesis process.
Data from the testing completed at the AutomationStudio is then fed
back to its DesignStudio to further improve its generative AI
algorithms. By impacting both the screening stage and the synthesis
and testing stage of drug discovery, Exscientia aims to accelerate
the pace of drug development, closing the loop between in silico
design and wet-lab synthesis.
Exscientia’s platform, which is built using AWS technologies,
supports its Design-Make-Test-Learn (DMTL) loops and spans
generative AI, active learning, ML, physics-based systems and many
other predictive methods. It also draws on large language models
via Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed service that makes
high-performing foundation models from leading AI startups and
Amazon, available through a unified application programming
interface (API). Exscientia expects that ‘closing the loop’ of
virtual design and physical experimentation on AWS will benefit its
internal discovery projects as well as its collaborative
programmes, such as with Sanofi, and potential future
partnerships.
“Extending our collaboration with AWS beyond our DesignStudio to
include the robotic automation of synthesis and testing of our
molecular designs was the logical next step for Exscientia,” said
John Overington, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer of Exscientia. “We
were seeking a solution that had flexibility and scalability,
combined with high performance and generative AI capabilities. We
also wanted a collaborator that is creative and passionate about
life sciences. AWS ticks all of these boxes.”
“Our mission is to transform the way the biopharma industry
invents impactful medicines, by pairing the best available human
science, ingenuity and AI/ML tech expertise with innovative
experimental automation technologies to increase the quality and
capacity of drug design, discovery and development,” said David
Hallett, Ph.D., interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Scientific Officer of Exscientia. “By encoding, automating and
integrating the loop of design, synthesis and testing with our
generative design workflows in our new AutomationStudio, we have
taken the next step to increase the speed of learning, and to
reduce the time and cost of exploring new therapeutic alternatives.
We believe that working with AWS will accelerate the achievement of
our goal to deliver higher-quality, precision designed future
therapies to patients in need, faster.”
“The cloud is transforming the life sciences industry and
helping to accelerate the pace of innovation. We’re excited that
Exscientia is expanding its use of AWS’ generative AI and ML
solutions to further speed up the discovery of new treatments for
patients,” said Patrick Lamplé, Principal Healthcare & Life
Sciences Tech Strategist – Worldwide, at Amazon Web Services. “The
use of AI is also enabling Exscientia to automate their labs and
processes, which will help to lower the costs associated with drug
development.”
About Exscientia
Exscientia is a technology-driven drug design and development
company, committed to creating more effective medicines for
patients, faster. Exscientia combines precision design with
integrated experimentation, aiming to invent and develop the best
possible drugs in the most efficient manner. Operating at the
interfaces of human ingenuity, artificial intelligence (AI),
automation and physical engineering, we pioneered the use of AI in
drug discovery as the first company to progress AI-designed small
molecules into a clinical setting. We have developed an internal
pipeline focused on oncology, while our partnered pipeline extends
to many other therapeutic areas. By leading this new approach to
drug creation, we believe we can change the underlying economics of
drug discovery and rapidly advance the best scientific ideas into
medicines for patients.
For more information visit us on www.exscientia.com or follow us
on LinkedIn @ex-scientia and X @exscientiaAI.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within
the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as
“anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plan,”
“projects,” and “future” or similar expressions (as well as other
words or expressions referencing future events or circumstances)
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All
statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in
this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements
include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the
advantages of the company’s technology platform and its drug
discovery programmes; the company’s belief that using generative AI
will accelerate drug development; the anticipated benefits of the
company’s expanded collaboration with AWS including the ability to
accelerate discovery projects; the benefits of the use of robotic
automation in drug design; the potential for entry into and the
expansion of current and future partnerships; the potential for
experimental automation technologies to increase the quality and
capacity of drug design, discovery and development including to
design new and more efficient treatments for patients; the
company’s belief that its capabilities will enable it to invent the
best drugs in an efficient manner; the company’s belief that it can
change the economics of drug design and advance ideas into
medicines; and the company’s business strategies, goals and
approach to drug design. Any forward-looking statements are based
on management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events
and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual events or results to differ materially and adversely
from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking
statements, many of which are beyond the company’s control. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk
that the company’s platform technology may fail to discover and
design molecules with therapeutic potential or may not result in
the discovery and development of commercially viable products for
the company or its collaborators; the company may be unable to
advance its drug candidates through clinical development,
regulatory approval or commercialisation; the impacts of
macroeconomic conditions, including the conflict in Ukraine and the
conflict in the Middle East, heightened inflation and uncertain
credit and financial markets, on the Company’s business, clinical
trials and financial position; the company’s ability to realise the
benefits of its collaborations; changes in expected or existing
competition; changes in the regulatory environment; the
uncertainties and timing of the regulatory approval process; and
unexpected litigation or other disputes. These and other risks and
uncertainties are described in the “Risk Factors” section of
Exscientia’s Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December
31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
on March 21, 2024, and well as discussions of potential risks,
uncertainties and other factors in Exscientia’s subsequent filings
with the SEC. All information in this press release is as of the
date of the release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update
this information, except as required by law.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240710764372/en/
Investor Relations: Sara Sherman / Chinedu Okeke
investors@exscientia.ai Media: David Keown
media@exscientia.ai
Exscientia (NASDAQ:EXAI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Exscientia (NASDAQ:EXAI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024