Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is to in-license an immune-modulating drug candidate created by artificial intelligence(AI)-driven pharmatech Exscientia.
Exscientia currently has two active collaborations with BMS, which together focus on multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology and immunology.
It’s the first candidate in a multi-target collaboration between Exscientia and BMS to reach this milestone, and follows on from the drug discovery agreement with a potential value of up to $1.2bn that the companies signed in May.
The in-licensed candidate targets a critical immunological kinase that historically has proven difficult to target due to the need for a combination of potency, selectivity, and overall drug-like properties. Exscientia utilised AI-driven design, structural biology, chemistry, and pharmacology, as well as late-stage preclinical studies to design the novel candidate.
Andrew Hopkins, CEO of Exscientia, commented: “We are focused on using our patient-first AI technology to design precision engineered drugs against challenging drug product profiles. We are seeing great efficiency from our platform. This drug candidate molecule was just the 150th novel compound to be designed and tested and it was identified within 11 months of starting drug design. In partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb and its world-class research, clinical and commercialisation capabilities, we look forward to advancing this candidate into the next stage of development.”
BMS will now be responsible for the clinical and commercial development of the first drug candidate and Exscientia will receive a $20 million option exercise fee.