The steel industry is not a common birthplace of biotech companies, but Andrew Hopkins traces the ideas that became Exscientia back to his time there. New technologies and new processes replaced nearly 90% of the steel workforce, and Hopkins kept those market lessons. He says, “When I ended up in pharma and biotech, I had a very different perception of the power of commerce and markets and what they can potentially drive, and the power of new technology to position oneself in those markets.”  

In this episode, Andrew Hopkins, CEO and Executive Director of Exscientia, speaks with host Stan Gloss of BioTeam about his desire to fundamentally change drug creation mechanics and processes with technology, his graduate experience working in human immunodeficiency virus drug design at Oxford University, and his stint at Pfizer. He also discusses Exscientia’s machine learning-based and model-driven approach to drug design, the connection between knowledge and efficiency in drug optimization projects, and its fourth platform-designed drug launch into the clinic.  

Links from this episode:  
Bio-IT World
BioTeam
Exscientia
2022 Bio-IT World story: Building AI for the Drug Discovery Learning Problem
2006 Nature Paper: Global mapping of pharmacological space 

Trends from the Trenches boiler: Bio-IT World’s Trends from the Trenches podcast delivers your insider’s look at the science, technology, and executive trends driving the life sciences through conversations with industry leaders. BioTeam co-founder Stan Gloss brings years of industry experience in science, data, and technology to conversations exploring what is driving data and discovery, and what’s coming next.