Evotec, a Hamburg, Germany-based drug discovery and development company, has invested EUR 15 million ($17.7 million) to take a minority stake in Exscientia, a company specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) for drug development.

Exscientia and Evotec have cooperated since early 2016 to advance small molecules and bispecific small molecules in immuno-oncology.

Exscientia has also collaborated with some larger pharmaceutical companies. In July 2017, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) formed a collaboration with the company to discover selective small molecules for up to 10 disease-related targets nominated by GSK across multiple therapeutic areas. Under the agreement, the total amount payable by GSK to Exscientia on achieving the milestones is £33 million ($42 million) if all 10 projects advance.

Earlier in 2017, Sanofi formed a strategic research collaboration and license option agreement with Exscientia, worth up to $272 million,  for bispecific small molecules for treating metabolic diseases using artificial intelligence.

Source: Evotec