Exscientia expands headquarters at The Oxford Science Park

Exscientia, the clinical-stage, artificial intelligence-driven pharmatech company, has announced a significant expansion of its headquarters with the opening of a 21,000 sq ft expansion of its facilities at The Oxford Science Park (TOSP).

The company, which initially occupied c7,800 sq ft in TOSP’s Schrödinger Building, is increasing capacity for its technology teams as well as significantly expanding its laboratory-based experimental capabilities in structural biology, biophysics and high-content pharmacology.

The company now has 25 active research programmes, both in-house and with partners. It has developed significantly this year, raising over $300m in fundraising rounds and signing several partnership deals.

Having already created over 100 new jobs so far this year, the company expects to add a similar number of new roles in the Oxford area over the next year. Exscientia also has facilities in Scotland, Japan and the USA.

In parallel, Exscientia is building a new robotic laboratory at nearby Milton Park, which will focus on the automation of chemistry and biology to accelerate drug discovery. This will take Exscientia towards its goal of drugs designed by AI, made by a robot.

Dr David Hallet, Chief Operating Officer of Exscientia, said: “Exscientia has grown significantly in 2021, driven by new partnerships with leading pharma and biotech companies, as well as by our in-house drug discovery work. Our pipeline includes more than 25 active research programs across therapeutic areas, with a focus on immunology and oncology.

“To meet this expanded growth, we have added more than 100 employees to-date in 2021 and are excited to continue this growth as we seek to add more world-class scientists and technologists to our team.”

Rory Maw, Bursar of Magdalen College & Interim MD of TOSP, said, ‘Exscientia is a leading player in AI-driven drug discovery, and we are delighted that it has expanded its headquarters so significantly here since 2018.

“The resultant job creation in the local economy is very welcome. TOSP looks forward to continuing to support the growth of Exscientia, which is an important member of our AI cohort here alongside companies such as Etcembly, MoA Technology and Sensyne Health.’

Exscientia is a global company headquartered in Oxford with sites in Miami, Vienna, Dundee and Osaka. The company currently has over 170 people, roughly split between technologists and drug discovery scientists, with a united goal to find smarter and faster ways to discover and develop new drugs.