Gt Apeiron Therapeutics Ltd.

Exscientia disclosed Tuesday that it plans to let go of 20-25% of its employees by the end of the year to streamline operations as it aims to bring its wholly-owned candidates to the clinic. The AI-enabled drug developer has two partnered programmes in early-stage testing: CDK7 inhibitor GTAEXS617 is being developed with GT Apeiron Therapeutics for solid tumours, and PKC-theta inhibitor EXS4318, which Bristol Myers Squibb in-licensed, is in Phase I testing for inflammatory diseases.Exscientia plans to start trials of its LSD1 inhibitor and MALT1-targeting candidate to treat certain haematologic malignancies next half and in early 2025, respectively.The headcount reduction, which is expected to result in annualised savings of $40 million starting next year, will affect positions across Exscientia’s target identification, precision medicine, experimentation, engineering and infrastructure units. The move will extend the company’s cash runway into 2027.The restructuring comes just months after the firm fired former CEO Andrew Hopkins after an investigation uncovered inappropriate relationships with two staffers. Chief scientific officer David Hallet, who was appointed interim CEO in February following the incident, said in a statement Tuesday that Exscientia is “beginning to see the transformative power of fully integrating AI drug design with the sheer capacity of comprehensive robotic automation across the entire experimentation cycle.” Separately, a round of layoffs also hit sinonasal implant developer Lyra Therapeutics. The firm will let go of 87 employees, totalling about 75% of its staff, and stop all manufacturing and commercialization operations to extend its cash runway into 2026.

Exscientia is searching for a new chief executive and chairman after learning the former had engaged in inappropriate relationships with employees, and the latter seemingly kept at least one of those relationships secret from the board. Shares in the company, which uses AI to discover and develop drugs, sunk 23% Tuesday on the news.CEO Andrew Hopkins was sacked after an investigation uncovered relationships with two employees that were “inappropriate and inconsistent with the company’s standards and values,” Exscientia disclosed in a regulatory filing. Additionally, chairman David Nicholson tendered his resignation Tuesday after a discussion with the board. According to the company, Nicholson had prior knowledge of the earlier of Hopkins’ relationships, but rather than consulting the board, he addressed the situation directly.Dave Hallett, Exscientia’s chief science officer, has been appointed interim CEO, and Elizabeth Crain, who sits on the board and serves as chair of the audit committee, will act as interim chairperson. The board is searching for permanent replacements for both positions. 12 years at the helm Hopkins founded Exscientia in 2012 to leverage AI for more rapid, effective identification and development of drug molecules. During his tenure, Hopkins has been awarded a slew of honours. He was elected Fellow of both the Royal Society and the Academy of Medical Sciences, was featured on the inaugural TIME 100 AI and Fortune 50 AI Innovators lists, and most recently was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January. Exscientia purports to have brought the first AI-designed candidate to in-human studies in 202, and boasts partnerships with a pair of large pharmas – Bristol Myers Squibb and Sanofi – plus German life sciences company Merck KGaA.However, in the company’s decade-plus existence, it has yet to win a regulatory approval, let alone reach late-stage clinical testing. Its lead programme, CDK7 inhibitor GTAEXS617, is partnered with GT Apeiron Therapeutics and is in a Phase I/II trial to treat solid tumours. Exscientia’s other clinical candidate is PKC-theta inhibitor EXS4318, which BMS has in-licensed and last year started a Phase I trial for inflammatory diseases.Exscientia’s shares have lost more than 70% of their value since the company’s late 2021 IPO, which raised over $300 million through the sale of 13.9 million ADSs at $22.00 a piece. The company closed at $5.80 on Tuesday.