Exscientia receives $1.5m to advance Covid-19 therapy
Pharmaceutical technology company Exscientia has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate a Covid-19 therapy developed using artificial intelligence (AI).
A grant of $1.5 million will be given to Exscientia to help it advance a class of novel small molecule inhibitors into a therapeutic candidate. Exscientia demonstrated proof-of-concept through its AI platform to design inhibitors targeting SARS-CoV-2’s main protease enzyme, Mpro, also known as 3CLpro, the causative agent of Covid-19.
Mpro is essential for the replication of coronavirus, so administering an Mpro inhibitor to patients as a standalone antiviral or alongside other concurrent treatments could provide a useful frontline therapy.
The aim of the project is to identify potential pan-coronavirus therapeutics that could be effective against Covid-19, other strains of the virus and other SARS viruses that may emerge.
The project will see Exscientia use its AI-driven drug discovery platform to design virus protease inhibitors.
Dr Denise Barrault, senior portfolio manager at Exscientia, commented, “The danger of new emerging strains and mutations of coronavirus means there is an urgent need for new antiviral drugs in this pandemic alongside vaccines, to respond more quickly in potential future coronavirus pandemics. We believe that the world needs innovation to accelerate the discovery of more effective counter-measures for a range of infectious diseases, including Covid-19.”