5 Inquiries Directed to Garry Pairaudeau, Exscientia's Chief Technology Officer

In the heart of the UK, a technological revolution is taking place within the pharmaceutical industry. Exscientia, a pioneering firm, is driving change by utilising Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimise drug discovery and bring new medicines to the clinic more efficiently.

Exscientia's drug discovery process involves precision engineering of drug compounds that interact effectively with the body. This innovative approach was recently demonstrated in their drug candidate for obsessive-compulsive disorder, DSP-1181. Developed in partnership with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, DSP-1181 was the result of a project which ran five times faster than typical drug discovery methods, taking just 12 months as opposed to the usual 4 to 5 years.

Access to more data is of critical importance for Exscientia. This wealth of information allows for a more rapid and cost-effective route to discovering drug candidates. Prioritising molecules with better data enables the company to shorten the pre-clinical drug discovery stage. Higher volume and quality data also enables Exscientia to build better models of critical properties like toxicity or metabolism.

Exscientia's AI systems are particularly effective in situations where little is known about the target at the start of a project. These systems are designed to make the most of sparse data situations and enable learning with the fewest number of experiments. This means that projects can move faster, better decisions can be made, and significantly fewer experiments are required.

The role of AI in drug development is expected to be nothing short of transformational. Exscientia expects AI to play a transformational role in drug development, with drugs entering human clinical trials being designed with AI by the end of the decade. This could potentially revolutionise the entire drug research and development system, injecting urgency into the entirety of the process.

Exscientia's platform delivers a significantly more rapid and cost-effective route to discovering drug candidates than the industry benchmark. The company's AI process turns data into knowledge and creates digital models of desired drug properties. This is achieved through the use of a branch of AI called Generative Methods, which designs potent and exquisite drug molecules.

As the world watches this technological revolution unfold, it's clear that Exscientia is at the forefront of a new era in drug development. With their AI-driven drug discovery process, they are paving the way for a future where new medicines can be brought to the clinic more efficiently than ever before.