Frontier IP upbeat as portfolio company partners with Bayer

10th Jan 2020 15:25

(Sharecast News) - Intellectual property commercialisation company Frontier IP announced on Friday that its portfolio company Exscientia, which focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) driven drug discovery, has entered into a collaboration with Bayer focused on cardiovascular disease and oncology.
The AIM-traded firm said that under the terms of the agreement, Exscientia could be eligible to receive up to €240m (£203.97m), including upfront and research payments, and for meeting near term and clinical milestones.

It could also receive sales royalties, Frontier IP said.

The company noted that Exscientia's other partnerships included collaborations with Celgene, GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, Sanofi, GT Apeiron, Rallybio and Evotec.

Frontier IP currently holds a 3.25% stake in the Exscientia.

"We're delighted to collaborate with Bayer, a globally recognised pharmaceutical company," said Exscientia chief executive officer, professor Andrew Hopkins, in his company's statement.

"Since our pioneering 'Nature' papers demonstrating the automated design of small-molecules, we have enhanced our platform and exemplified it commercially, by accelerating the discovery of future drug molecules with partners."

At 1407 GMT, shares in Frontier IP Group were up 0.02% at 66.51p.