The world's biggest asset manager is backing a British company which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to discover new drug molecules as part of a $100m fundraising that puts it firmly on course to achieve coveted "unicorn" status.
© OtherAndrew Hopkins is Exscientia's founder and chief executive
Sky News has learnt that BlackRock is injecting a substantial sum into Oxford-based Exscientia in an updated Series C funding round that will be confirmed on Thursday.
The new capital, and the identity of its new investor, will provide a significant boost to one of Britain's fastest-growing pharmatech companies.
Exscientia's $60m fundraising was originally announced last summer, but has now been augmented with funding from BlackRock, the multitrillion dollar US-based investment group, according to people close to the situation.
Sources said the additional funding would help Exscientia double in size again this year, after doing so in 2020.
The company, which employs more than 100 people, has recently expanded into the US with a presence in Boston and Miami.
It uses an end-to-end AI-first drug discovery platform called CentaurAI to discover new drugs significantly more quickly than industry benchmarks, and says it has created the first fully AI-designed drug to enter clinical trials and advance multiple drug candidates into pre-clinical testing.
© Associated PressBlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, is based in New York. Pic: AP
Exscientia has struck partnerships with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi and Bayer, as well as a number of biotech companies.
The company already has the first-ever precision-engineered drug designed by AI - a treatment for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - which began phase one of human clinical trials last year.
That product was developed in less than a quarter of the time that would have been taken using traditional techniques, underlining the huge appetite in AI drug development applications.
Its existing investors include Novo Holdings, a Danish-based company that is part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation - a prominent global pharmaceuticals investor - Evotec, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and GT Healthcare Capital.
Andrew Hopkins, Exscientia's chief executive, said the new investment from BlackRock was a "recognition of the ingenuity and hard work of our employees to turn the promise of AI into reality today, where we are bringing the world's first AI designed drugs into the clinic".
"I believe that our company's reimagined approach to drug discovery will become the new de facto standard."
Exscientia declined to comment on its latest valuation, but sources indicated that it was now worth in the region of $650m.
William Abecassis, head of BlackRock's Innovation Capital arm, said Exscientia was "breaking ground in small molecule drug design, with a platform that radically improves drug discovery".
"We are thrilled to be investing in this world-class team, who are already delivering results with AI-designed drugs now entering clinical trials."
Mr Abecassis is joining the Exscientia board as an observer.
Until recently, the company's chairman was Alex Snow, a respected figure in the City from stints running the stockbroker Evolution Securities and Lansdowne Partners, a hedge fund.
Mr Snow, who played rugby union professionally for Harlequins and England, remains a significant investor in the business.