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Exscientia and the University of Oxford's Target Discovery Institute (TDI) today announced the formation of Xcellomics – a program designed to source cellular functional assays from the global academic community to develop novel screens and identify targets and therapeutic candidates for unmet medical needs.

3d illustration of cells secreting exosomes

The Xcellomics program was created by the two Oxford-based institutions to expedite early-stage drug discovery research – primarily conducted within academic labs – and potentially leverage those outputs to bring therapies to patients sooner. The program offers applicants resources to explore, identify and rapidly advance novel drug targets by leveraging Oxford TDI’s expertise in developing robust, disease-relevant, predictive screening assays and Exscientia’s AI personalised medicine design capabilities.

“Academic research has and will continue to play a critical role in the development and advancement of medicine, and this partnership is a shining example of how industry and academia can come together to bridge a traditional gap in the drug development cycle,” said Sir Peter Ratcliffe, FRS, FMedSci, Director of the Target Discovery Institute within the Nuffield Department of Medicine and winner of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Medicine. “Despite the multitude of advancements in using genetics, genomics, cell and chemical biology to improve target discovery, we believe we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of available assays that could be translated into meaningful therapies for patients.”

Read the full story on the Exscientia website

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