• Third clinical molecule from collaboration with Sumitomo Pharma to enter Phase 1 trials
• DSP-2342, a dual 5-HT2A/5-HT7 antagonist to be assessed in psychiatric disease

OXFORD, England / May 15, 2023 / Business Wire / Exscientia plc (Nasdaq: EXAI) today announced that Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. (‘Sumitomo Pharma’) plans to initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of DSP-2342 in the United States. DSP-2342 is a highly-selective bispecific small molecule with potent dual 5-HT2A and 5-HT7 antagonist activity with broad potential in psychiatric disease. It is the third molecule created utilising Exscientia’s AI-driven drug discovery platform under a collaboration with Sumitomo Pharma, referred to as design as a service or DaaS.

“With three AI-generated development compounds designed for Sumitomo Pharma, plus our own emerging pipeline, we have repeatedly validated our approach and are on track to achieve our vision of encoding and automating pharmaceutical R&D,” said Andrew Hopkins, founder and Chief Executive Officer at Exscientia. “Using AI, we are creating a much more efficient process to design and develop differentiated drug candidates. We believe that all new therapies will be designed with the help of AI in the future.”

Following the successful conclusion of the DaaS partnership for DSP-2342, Sumitomo Pharma holds all further development, commercial and economic rights to the compound. However, Exscientia maintains ownership of or economic rights to all compounds in its portfolio outside of the original Sumitomo Pharma agreement. These include EXS21546, an A_2A receptor antagonist, GTAEXS617, a CDK7 inhibitor and EXS4318, a selective PKC-theta inhibitor being evaluated in inflammatory diseases by Bristol Myers Squibb. In addition, two further wholly owned precision oncology development candidates, EXS74539, an LSD1 inhibitor and EXS73565, a MALT1 protease inhibitor, have been announced recently and are currently progressing through IND/CTA-enabling studies.

About Exscientia

Exscientia is an AI-driven precision medicine company committed to discovering, designing and developing the best possible drugs in the fastest and most effective manner. Exscientia developed the first-ever functional precision oncology platform to successfully guide treatment selection and improve patient outcomes in a prospective interventional clinical study, as well as to progress AI-designed small molecules into the clinical setting. Our internal pipeline is focused on leveraging our precision medicine platform in oncology, while our partnered pipeline broadens our approach to other therapeutic areas. By pioneering a new approach to medicine creation, we believe the best ideas of science can rapidly become the best medicines for patients. Visit us at www.exscientia.ai or follow us on Twitter @exscientiaAI.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including with respect to the performance of Exscientia’s in generative AI platform and the discovery and development of candidate molecules, and the timing and progress of, and data reported from, preclinical studies and clinical trials of Sumitomo Pharma’s and Exscientia’s wholly or partially owned product candidates. Any statement describing Exscientia’s goals, plans, expectations, intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those related to: the impact that macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical events could have on the Company’s business; the initiation, scope and progress of Exscientia’s and its partners’ planned and ongoing pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and ramifications for the cost thereof; clinical, scientific, regulatory and technological developments; the process of discovering, developing and commercialising product candidates that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics; and the endeavour of building a business around such product candidates. In light of these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section and other sections of Exscientia’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 23, 2022 (File No. 001-40850), and other filings that Exscientia makes with the SEC from time to time (which are available at https://www.sec.gov/), the events and circumstances discussed in such forward-looking statements may not occur, and Exscientia’s actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied thereby. Although Exscientia’s forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its management, these statements are based only on facts and factors currently known by the Company. As a result, you are cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements.