Exscientia

Exscientia is a biotechnology company active in the field of AI-supported drug discovery and development. Headquartered in the Schrödinger Building at Oxford Science Park, the company aims to develop patient-specific therapeutic candidates by integrating experimental data generated at the human tissue level with AI-driven analyses. Exscientia has established an integrated system that combines advanced methodologies such as functional precision oncology, biophysical analysis, three-dimensional structure determination, and high-content cell imaging.

Exscientia’s core research and development infrastructure consists of four main components defined as Precision Target, Precision Design, Precision Experiment, and Precision Medicine. This framework optimizes the drug discovery process in an integrated manner across data collection, target selection, molecular design, and experimental validation stages.

Precision Target (Target Identification)

Target selection is one of the fundamental stages determining the success of drug discovery. Exscientia combines genetic data and scientific literature with machine learning models to identify relationships between diseases and potential targets. The company’s platform makes high-accuracy predictions by recording potential patient responses in live tissues. A key criterion for target selection is druggability—that is, the presence of structural features suitable for interaction with small molecules.

Precision Design (Molecular Design)

Molecular design is a process requiring engineering at the atomic and bond level. In this stage, Exscientia employs its AI-supported Centaur Chemist® system. The system transforms the discovery process into formal design operations, generating millions of compounds at two- and three-dimensional levels, and continuously refining its models using experimental feedback. The design process advances through exploration–exploitation strategies to develop balanced candidate molecules in terms of potency, selectivity, safety, and bioavailability.

Precision Experiment (Experimental Validation)

The development of AI models requires continuous feedback. To this end, Exscientia has established a laboratory infrastructure exceeding 47,000 square meters. These facilities utilize technologies such as surface plasmon resonance (SPR), X-ray crystallography, and transducerome platforms. Experimental systems are co-located with AI design teams to ensure speed and accuracy in data generation.

Fragment-based screening is the primary method used at the outset of projects. Biophysical screenings performed with SPR systems generate high-sensitivity binding kinetics data. Three-dimensional structure determination techniques provide high accuracy in early design cycles by identifying binding pockets within target regions.

Precision Medicine (Precision Medicine and Clinical Applications)

Exscientia has developed one of the first systems to demonstrate that clinical outcomes can be improved through functional precision oncology studies conducted on live human tissue. The company’s EXALT-1 clinical trial has shown that this approach can enhance patient treatment responses. In these studies, single-cell level analyses are used to dissect off-target effects and evaluate the clinical potential of each molecule.

Pipeline (Drug Development Stages)

Exscientia’s portfolio of clinical and preclinical programs demonstrates the patient-centric drug development capacity of its AI-supported platform. Notable drug candidates include the CDK7 inhibitor GTAEXS617 (for advanced solid tumors, wholly owned by Exscientia), EXS74539 (targeting LSD1 for acute myeloid leukemia and small cell lung cancer), and EXS73565 (targeting MALT1 for hematological diseases). Additionally, the PKC-theta inhibitor EXS4318, being developed for inflammatory diseases, is currently under evaluation in Phase 1 healthy volunteer trials.

Exscientia possesses a unique research system that integrates AI-supported drug design, biophysical analysis, and live-tissue-based clinical testing. The company’s goal is to rapidly develop next-generation drug candidates that enhance patient responses through methods developed in functional precision oncology and molecular engineering.

On November 20, 2024, Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX) and Exscientia merged, uniting as two leading companies in AI-supported drug discovery and development. As a result of the merger, Exscientia became a wholly owned subsidiary of Recursion, and its shares were delisted from Nasdaq. The new combined entity has created a portfolio comprising more than ten clinical and preclinical programs, ten advanced discovery projects, and over ten collaboration programs, integrating Recursion’s technological infrastructure with Exscientia’s chemical design and synthesis expertise. The company’s objective is to accelerate drug discovery, reduce costs, and develop first-in-class and best-in-class drug candidates. Following the merger, the company’s headquarters remain in Salt Lake City, while operations continue in centers including Toronto, Montreal, Oxford, and London.