Exscientia Takes Full Control of Promising Cancer Drug Program

Exscientia gets buy rating, positive on asset control and trial plans By Investing.com

On Thursday, TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating on shares of Exscientia PLC (NASDAQ: EXAI), highlighting the company's recent agreement to acquire complete control of their promising asset '617 (CDK7i). This move is expected to improve the long-term financial prospects for Exscientia. The analyst from TD Cowen pointed out that the deal with GTA enhances Exscientia's ownership over '617, which is considered to be their most valuable asset. The acquisition is seen as a strategic step that could positively influence the company's economic outcomes in the future. Furthermore, Exscientia is preparing to initiate a dose escalation cohort in combination with SERD for CDK4/6-refractory HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC). This trial is scheduled to commence by late 2024 or early 2025. The analyst noted that this new development path is significant and is expected to accelerate the drug's time to market. Additionally, initial Phase 1/2 data across multiple tumor types is anticipated in the second half of 2024. This upcoming data is deemed crucial for beginning to validate Exscientia's platform. The anticipation of these results could play a vital role in shaping the future trajectory of the company's research and development efforts. In other recent news, Exscientia, an AI-driven drug discovery firm, announced significant developments. The company gained full ownership of the oral CDK7 inhibitor program from GT Apeiron, including rights to GTAEXS617, and its associated intellectual property. The ELUCIDATE trial is currently evaluating '617 for treating advanced solid tumors, with results expected in the latter half of 2024. The agreement with GT Apeiron includes a $10 million upfront cash payment, $10 million in upfront equity, and future single-digit royalties on commercialization of '617. Exscientia has also expanded its collaboration with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS) to enhance its drug discovery and automation platform. The partnership aims to accelerate the drug discovery process and reduce costs by utilizing generative AI models and AWS's scalable infrastructure. In the realm of analyst notes, TD Cowen has initiated coverage on Exscientia's stock with a Buy rating. This endorsement is based on Exscientia's innovative AI platform and its pipeline of next-generation oncology assets. TD Cowen anticipates the initial Phase 1/2 data for Exscientia's CDK7 inhibitor '617, expected in the second half of 2024, to be a pivotal moment for the company. The firm also expects two more Investigational New Drug applications by the end of 2024, offering multiple opportunities to validate Exscientia's platform in the next two years. In light of TD Cowen's optimistic perspective on Exscientia PLC (NASDAQ: EXAI), a closer look at the company's financials and market performance through InvestingPro provides additional context. Notably, Exscientia holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, which could offer financial flexibility as they progress with their promising asset '617 (CDK7i). Furthermore, analysts are forecasting sales growth in the current year, aligning with the strategic moves highlighted by TD Cowen. From a market standpoint, Exscientia's market cap stands at $682.42M, reflecting investor valuation of the company. Despite facing challenges such as weak gross profit margins with a -34.4% rate over the last twelve months as of Q1 2024, the company has experienced a strong return over the last three months, with a 23.85% price total return. This may indicate a rising investor confidence which could be associated with the strategic developments mentioned in the article. For those looking to delve deeper into Exscientia's potential, InvestingPro offers additional InvestingPro Tips that can help investors make informed decisions. There are 9 additional tips available, including insights on earnings revisions and profitability expectations. To access these tips and more, consider using the coupon code PRONEWS24 to get up to 10% off a yearly Pro and a yearly or biyearly Pro+ subscription, which could prove invaluable as Exscientia approaches key milestones in its clinical trials.

Exscientia takes full control of cancer drug program By Investing.com

OXFORD, England - Exscientia plc (NASDAQ: EXAI), a company specializing in artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery, has announced its acquisition of full ownership of the oral CDK7 inhibitor program from GT Apeiron. This strategic move grants Exscientia complete rights to GTAEXS617, referred to as '617, and its associated intellectual property. The ELUCIDATE trial, a two-stage clinical study, is currently evaluating '617 for its safety and effectiveness in treating advanced solid tumors. The monotherapy dose escalation phase is on schedule, with results expected in the second half of 2024. The subsequent phase, set to begin between late 2024 and early 2025, will explore the drug's efficacy in combination with other therapies, initially targeting HR+/HER2- breast cancer patients. David Hallett, Ph.D., the interim CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of Exscientia, expressed optimism about the potential of '617, highlighting its design through AI to achieve a potent and selective compound with balanced properties. The company anticipates that '617 could significantly improve patient outcomes by addressing the limitations of current CDK inhibitors. Financial terms of the agreement with GT Apeiron include a $10 million upfront cash payment, $10 million in upfront equity, and future single-digit royalties on commercialization of '617. Despite these expenditures, Exscientia expects its cash runway to extend well into 2027. The ELUCIDATE trial encompasses various solid tumors, such as head and neck, colorectal, pancreatic, non-small cell lung, breast, and ovarian cancers. The primary efficacy endpoint for the expansion phase will be the objective response rate (ORR). In other recent news, Exscientia, an artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery firm, has expanded its collaboration with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS). The partnership aims to leverage AWS's AI and machine learning services to enhance Exscientia's drug discovery and automation platform. This move is expected to expedite the drug discovery process and reduce costs by harnessing generative AI models and AWS's scalable infrastructure. Furthermore, Exscientia's platform, integrated with AWS technologies, is poised to explore chemical spaces more efficiently and synthesize and test promising drug candidates using advanced robotics. In addition to this, Exscientia has received a Buy rating from TD Cowen, which initiated coverage on the company's stock. This endorsement is based on Exscientia's innovative AI platform and its pipeline of next-generation oncology assets. The firm anticipates the initial Phase 1/2 data for Exscientia's CDK7 inhibitor '617, expected in the second half of 2024, to be a pivotal moment for the company. Additionally, TD Cowen anticipates two more Investigational New Drug applications by the end of 2024, offering multiple opportunities to validate Exscientia's platform in the next two years. Exscientia plc (NASDAQ: EXAI) is making bold strides in the AI-driven drug discovery sector with its recent acquisition of the CDK7 inhibitor program. As the company advances its ELUCIDATE trial, investors are closely watching the financial health and growth prospects of Exscientia. According to InvestingPro, the company holds a market capitalization of $682.42 million, reflecting investor sentiment and market confidence in its innovative approach. The financial landscape of Exscientia is characterized by a notable cash position, as the firm holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, providing it with a solid foundation for funding ongoing research and development activities. Additionally, the company's liquid assets surpass its short-term obligations, ensuring financial flexibility in the near term. However, it's important to note that Exscientia is not expected to be profitable this year, and it has been quickly burning through cash, which is a crucial consideration for investors. Despite the challenges, analysts have a positive outlook on the company's sales growth for the current year, and two analysts have revised their earnings upwards for the upcoming period. This optimism is reflected in the strong return over the last three months, with a 23.85% price total return, signaling growing investor confidence. Nevertheless, the company's gross profit margins remain weak, which could impact its long-term profitability. For investors seeking a deeper analysis and additional insights, there are 9 more InvestingPro Tips available, which can be accessed through the InvestingPro platform. Moreover, subscribers can use the coupon code PRONEWS24 to get up to 10% off a yearly Pro and a yearly or biyearly Pro+ subscription, unlocking a wealth of expert financial analysis and market data.

Exscientia Acquires Full Rights to Potential Best-in-Class CDK7 Inhibitor Ahead of Phase 1 Dose Escalation Data Readout

Exscientia plc (Nasdaq: EXAI) today announced it has reached an agreement to acquire GT Apeiron's share of its oral CDK7 inhibitor programme, gaining full control of GTAEXS617 ('617) and all related intellectual property. The monotherapy dose escalation phase of ELUCIDATE is designed to assess the safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of '617 in advanced solid tumours. Recruitment for the trial is progressing well with monotherapy dose escalation data on track to readout in the second half of 2024. In late 2024/early 2025, the study will transition to a combination dose escalation phase. The first tumour type to be explored in this portion of the study is expected to be HR+/HER2- breast cancer patients that have progressed on CDK4/6 inhibitors, assessing '617 in combination with a selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD). "We are excited to have full ownership of this potentially transformative asset," said David Hallett, Ph.D., interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of Exscientia. "This underlines our confidence that we have not only used AI to design a potent and selective compound, but one that has balanced overall properties; these include a reversible mechanism of action and an appropriate human half-life to maximise the therapeutic index of this important cellular mechanism. CDK inhibitors are a major class of oncology drugs, and we believe our highly differentiated compound has the potential to greatly expand impact for patients and exemplifies our leadership in technology-driven drug design." Under the terms of the agreement, Exscientia will own full rights to the intellectual property as well as full control of this CDK7 inhibitor programme. Exscientia will pay GT Apeiron $10 million in upfront cash, $10 million in upfront equity, and take on all existing development costs, in addition to paying single digit royalties if Exscientia or a third party commercializes '617. Following the transaction, Exscientia's cash runway is still expected to extend well into 2027. About ELUCIDATE The ELUCIDATE trial is a multicentre, open-label, two-stage clinical trial to evaluate safety, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and efficacy of '617 administered orally as monotherapy and in combination with standard of care therapies. The company is enrolling patients with solid tumours including head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), breast cancer and ovarian cancer, who have advanced, recurrent or metastatic disease and have failed standard of care. Both the monotherapy and combination therapy dose escalation portion of the trial will enrol patients across multiple dose levels to determine the optimal biological dose (OBD). The dose expansion phase of the trial will commence upon identification of the OBD. The primary efficacy endpoint of the expansion phase is objective response rate (ORR). CDK7 inhibition combines many potential benefits such as transcription inhibition, reduction of aberrant kinome activation, cell cycle inhibition and modulation of estrogen receptor activity. This makes it an attractive target to overcome common resistance pathways associated with CDK4/6 inhibition, which only targets the cell cycle. Exscientia believes '617 has the potential to overcome significant safety and efficacy limitations of existing approved treatments due to the underlying biology of CDK7 and our laser focus on maximising therapeutic index through an AI-designed molecule that enables tight control of both extent and duration of target inhibition. About Exscientia Exscientia is a technology-driven drug design and development company, committed to creating more effective medicines for patients, faster. Exscientia combines precision design with integrated experimentation, aiming to invent and develop the best possible drugs in the most efficient manner. Operating at the interfaces of human ingenuity, artificial intelligence (AI), automation and physical engineering, we pioneered the use of AI in drug discovery as the first company to progress AI-designed small molecules into a clinical setting. We have developed an internal pipeline focused on oncology, while our partnered pipeline extends to many other therapeutic areas. By leading this new approach to drug creation, we believe we can change the underlying economics of drug discovery and rapidly advance the best scientific ideas into medicines for patients. This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "expects," "intends," "may," "plan," "projects," and "future" or similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release are forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advantages of the Company's technology platform and its drug discovery programmes; the Company's belief that using generative AI will accelerate drug development; the anticipated benefits and upside potential of the Company's control and full ownership of the intellectual property related to the CDK7 inhibitor program; the initiation, timing and progress of, and data collected during and reported from, the Company's and its partners' clinical trials, as well as the Company's expectation that its existing cash runway will be sufficient to fund its operations well into 2027. Any forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements, many of which are beyond the company's control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that the company's platform technology may fail to discover and design molecules with therapeutic potential or may not result in the discovery and development of commercially viable products for the company or its collaborators; the company may be unable to advance its drug candidates through clinical development, regulatory approval or commercialisation; the impacts of macroeconomic conditions, including the conflict in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, heightened inflation and uncertain credit and financial markets, on the Company's business, clinical trials and financial position; the company's ability to realise the benefits of its collaborations; changes in expected or existing competition; changes in the regulatory environment; the uncertainties and timing of the regulatory approval process; and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in the "Risk Factors" section of Exscientia's Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 21, 2024, and well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties and other factors in Exscientia's subsequent filings with the SEC. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update this information, except as required by law.