Consistent with our resolution to add some international flavor to our portfolios in early 2022 and my ongoing search for new and innovative companies, we go to the U.K. and Oxford for our new recommendation, points out Carl Delfeld, global expert and editor of Cabot Explorer.
Founded in 2012 and based in Oxford, England, Exscientia (EXAI) is using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new medicines and is attracting high quality partners. And the company is turning this into explosive growth.
You have probably heard more than you want about the incredible potential of artificial intelligence. AI enables computers, robots and other devices to think like humans but far faster and more powerfully.
This is why it is sometimes referred to as machine learning. The potential of AI can be applied to many industries but perhaps the most exciting is the field of medicine.
Exscientia has the first AI platform clinically validated to improve treatment outcomes for cancer patients and the world’s first AI-designed drugs to enter clinical trials. So really, Exscientia is both first and smarter, with a rapidly growing pipeline of more than 25 projects in motion with the goal of drug discovery in ovarian and hematological (blood) cancer.
In terms of partnerships, it has a Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) collaboration in both immunology and oncology. That’s on top of a design partnership with French drug giant Sanofi (SNY), Germany’s Bayer (BAYRY), and Japan’s Sumitomo Dainippon (DNPUF).
On January 7, Sanofi agreed to pay Exscientia up to $5.2 billion to develop 15 experimental oncology and immunology drugs. You can see its ambition and growth reflected in its expanding facilities with the expansion of facilities at Oxford Science Park, a new laboratory in Oxfordshire, and a medical center in Vienna, Austria.
As background, Exscientia went public on the Nasdaq in October at $22 a share (where it still trades today) so keep in mind that this is an attractive speculative stock which may have a bumpy ride ahead. It is a young company that is not and will not be profitable next year. But we like the upside.
