Exscientia Announces Second Molecule Created Using AI From Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Collaboration to Enter Phase 1 Clinical Trial
13.5.2021 10:30:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Exscientia Ltd. (Headquarters: Oxford, UK; CEO: Andrew Hopkins) is pleased to acknowledge that Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd. (Head office: Osaka, Japan, Representative Director, President and CEO: Hiroshi Nomura) has announced that they will initiate a Phase 1 clinical study of DSP-0038 in the United States for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease psychosis.
DSP-0038 is the third molecule created using Exscientia’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enter clinical trials. The two earlier compounds are DSP-1181, announced in 2020 together with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Exscientia’s immuno-oncology agent, EXS-21546, announced earlier this year.
Joint research between Exscientia and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma designed DSP-0038 to be a single small molecule that exhibits high potency as an antagonist for the 5-HT2A receptor and agonist for the 5-HT1A receptor, whilst selectively avoiding similar receptors and unwanted targets, such as the dopamine D2 receptor. Selective dual targeting is a major challenge for conventional drug discovery, and psychiatric indications also require exceptional selectivity to avoid off-target effects. The successful design of DSP-0038 demonstrates opportunities to design selective molecules with dual activity.
DSP-0038 will be assessed for improved antipsychotic effects associated with Alzheimer’s disease psychosis, as well as improvements in behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia which include agitation, aggression, anxiety, and depression.
Toru Kimura, Representative Director, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, said: "We have been impressed by the outstanding productivity of Exscientia's AI technologies. The combination of Exscientia’s AI with our company’s deep experience in monoamine GPCR drug discovery has now led to two molecules reaching our clinical pipeline from this collaboration.”
Andrew Hopkins, CEO of Exscientia, said: "This is further validation that our AI platform can turn complex biological challenges into high-quality clinical candidates quickly. To have what we believe to be the world’s first three clinical molecules created using AI arising from our own platform – two with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma - is a wonderful achievement. We hope that through the creation of DSP-0038 improved treatments for Alzheimer’s disease psychosis will be realized."
About Exscientia
Exscientia is an AI-driven pharmatech company committed to discovering and designing the best possible medicines in the fastest and most effective manner. Exscientia is the first company to progress AI-designed small molecules into the clinical setting and repeatedly demonstrate the ability of AI to transform how drugs are created. Exscientia’s AI platform has now designed two drugs that are in Phase 1 human clinical trials.
Drug design is precision engineering at the molecular scale. Exscientia has built dedicated AI systems that efficiently learn from the widest range of data and consistently reapply enhanced knowledge through iterations of design. Because Exscientia’s AI platform learns more effectively and rapidly than human-led efforts alone, candidate molecules satisfying complex therapeutic requirements are created with revolutionary efficiency. Exscientia believes that designing better drugs, faster, will allow the best ideas of science to rapidly become the best medicines for patients.
Exscientia has offices in Oxford, Miami, Osaka and Dundee. For more information visit us on www.exscientia.ai or follow us on Twitter @exscientiaAI.
About Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma Co., Ltd.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma defines its corporate mission as "To broadly contribute to society through value creation based on innovative research and development activities for the betterment of healthcare and fuller lives of people worldwide." By pouring all our efforts into the research and development of new drugs, we aim to realize our corporate mission and provide innovative and effective pharmaceutical
solutions to people not only in Japan but also around the world. Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma's goal is to create innovative pharmaceutical products in the focus research areas of Psychiatry & Neurology, Oncology and Regenerative Medicine/Cell Therapy. For further details, visit https://www.ds-pharma.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210513005059/en/
Contact information
Enquiries:
Edelman
Anitra Sprauten
P: +44 (0)7896 859386
Anitra.Sprauten@edelman.com
Stephanie Crisp
P: +44 (0)7583 003417
Stephanie.Crisp@edelman.com
For Exscientia
Mark Swindells: contact@exscientia.ai
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Incyte Announces the European Commission Approval of Zynyz ® (retifanlimab) for the First-Line Treatment of Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anal Canal (SCAC)6.3.2026 23:42:00 EET | Press release
Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Zynyz® (retifanlimab) in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (platinum-based chemotherapy) for the first-line treatment of adult patients with metastatic or with inoperable locally recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal (SCAC). “The EC approval of Zynyz marks an important step forward for patients with advanced SCAC, a rare cancer for which meaningful treatment advances have not occurred in several decades,” said Bill Meury, President and Chief Executive Officer, Incyte. “As the first PD-1 immunotherapy approved in Europe in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy in the first-line setting, Zynyz helps expand the standard-of-care options available to clinicians and underscores our commitment to delivering innovative medicines that can have an impact for patients.” The EC decision follows the January 2026 positive opinion received from the European Medicines Agency’s Committee f
Dfns Launches Payouts6.3.2026 22:27:00 EET | Press release
Dfns today announced the launch of Payouts, a new API enabling institutions to convert stablecoins to fiat and route payouts across multiple bank accounts while keeping wallet-level governance and controls in place. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260305327930/en/ Convert stablecoins to fiat and settle payouts to bank accounts in 94 countries, today. Solving the problem of single-rail off-ramps Today, most fintechs and institutions still hard-wire a single payout provider into their stack, or rely on vertically integrated models that bundle routing, pricing, custody, and settlement together. That approach may be convenient early on, but it creates structural problems at scale: weak price discovery because there is no competitive pressure on margins, limited auditability because routing decisions are opaque, and operational fragility because a single provider degradation in any corridor requires architectural i
Klarna Group Plc Clarifies Mechanics of March 9 Lock-Up Expiration6.3.2026 21:23:00 EET | Press release
Klarna Group plc (NYSE: KLAR) today issues the following clarification to ensure investors and market participants have accurate information regarding the mechanics of its lock-up expiration on March 9, 2026, the processes required before pre-IPO shares can be traded on the NYSE, and the prior liquidity opportunities already available to shareholders. This release contains only factual descriptions of the Company's share structure and applicable processes. It does not constitute guidance or a projection of any kind regarding future trading volumes, share price, or the intentions of any shareholder and speaks only as of the date of this press release. 1. 335 million locked-up shares — but two different categories Of the 378 million total ordinary shares outstanding, approximately 335 million are subject to lock-up restrictions expiring March 9, 2026. However, these shares fall into two distinct categories governed by separate sets of regulations. A. 159 million shares (48% of locked-up
Lone Star Funds Announces Agreement to Acquire the Capsules & Health Ingredients Division of Lonza Group AG6.3.2026 19:30:00 EET | Press release
Lone Star Funds (“Lone Star”) today announced that an affiliate of Lone Star Fund XII, L.P. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Capsules & Health Ingredients (“CHI”) division of Lonza Group AG. As part of the transaction, Lonza will retain a 40% equity position in the business. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, CHI operates globally across the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The business comprises three segments: Hard Empty Capsules: leading global manufacturer of gelatin and plant-based capsules offering a broad range of innovative solutions for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical customers. Dosage Form Solutions: end-to-end development and manufacturing platform serving nutraceutical and pharmaceutical customers. Health Ingredients: provider of branded, science-backed nutrition ingredients serving joint health, energy and active lifestyle markets. Lone Star believes CHI is a high-quality, globally recognized platform with strong technical capabilities, different
Sutherland Launches FinAI Hub to Industrialize Agentic AI for Banking and Financial Services6.3.2026 15:00:00 EET | Press release
Today, Sutherland announced the launch of Sutherland FinAI Hub, an enterprise Agentic AI platform built exclusively for Banking and Financial Services. As financial institutions accelerate AI adoption, many initiatives remain confined to pilots, unable to scale across legacy systems and core operations. Sutherland FinAI Hub is designed to help close that gap. FinAI Hub is an innovation ecosystem where Sutherland works with clients to design, prototype, and scale Agentic AI workflows across core operations. At launch, the platform brings together a large and expanding workforce of domain-trained AI agents purpose-built for financial institutions, supporting functions across retail banking, payments, cards, consumer and commercial lending, servicing, back office, risk and compliance functions. These modular agents can operate independently or be orchestrated across end-to-end workflows spanning onboarding, KYC, AML, fraud, underwriting, payments, disputes, servicing, and collections. For
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom