Exscientia has announced the establishment of a subsidiary, Exscientia K.K to spearhead its pharmaceutical interests across Asia. 

Exscientia K.K. is headquartered in Osaka, Japan, and led by Dr Daisuke Tanaka, an experienced medicinal chemist who previously was director of the Innovative Chemistry Group at Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma (DSP). Dr Tanaka led DSPs first collaboration with Exscientia which resulted in the successful delivery by Exscientia to DSP of a completely novel candidate for entry into IND-enabling studies in just 12 months beating the industry standard of 4.5 years.

The establishment of Exscientia K.K. will enable the company to deliver locally focused business development and project support in Japan as well as providing a strategic base that can extend across the broader Asia region, including China, Singapore and South Korea. 

Dr Mark Swindells, chief operating officer, said, “We are delighted that Daisuke has agreed to join Exscientia at this exciting time for the company. His combination of technical expertise and business development acumen will  be a tremendous asset in growing Exscientia across Asia.”

Dr Tanaka said, “When previously collaborating with Exscientia, I learned first-hand how its AI-driven drug discovery approach could deliver both efficiency and quality in a way that is very difficult to achieve with a conventional discovery platform. To be able to represent Exscientia both in the technical and business development domains in the rapidly growing Asia pharmaceutical market is a truly exciting opportunity.”