Exscientia Takes AI Specialist Allcyte
UK-based pharmatech Exscientia has entered into a binding agreement to buy Vienna-based Allcyte, a specialist in precision medicine using artificial intelligence (AI). Under the terms, Exscientia will pay €50 million, comprised of cash and Exscientia’s ordinary shares. The transaction is currently under review by Austrian regulators.
Allcyte’s technology uses AI to analyze drug activity in live patent samples at single-cell resolution. According to Exscientia, Allcyte’s AI platform is the first to have been clinically validated to improve cancer patient outcomes.
Exscientia said the acquisition expands its translational capabilities by enabling high content evaluation of individual patient biology in primary tumor tissues, rather than artificial cell lines or animal models.
“Allcyte is able to demonstrate what therapy actually works in the individual patient with the most disease relevant screening platform we have seen,” said Andrew Hopkins, Exscientia’s CEO. “Combining Allcyte’s platform with Exscientia’s technologies can redefine how drugs are developed, enabling integrated discovery and patient selection.”
Once the takeover has completed, Exscientia will “significantly” expand and extend Allcyte’s platform into early discovery, adding that it also plans to expand the Vienna site as its hub in the EU.
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
