On Thursday, TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating on shares of Exscientia PLC (NASDAQ: EXAI), highlighting the company's recent agreement to acquire complete control of their promising asset '617 (CDK7i). This move is expected to improve the long-term financial prospects for Exscientia.
The analyst from TD Cowen pointed out that the deal with GTA enhances Exscientia's ownership over '617, which is considered to be their most valuable asset. The acquisition is seen as a strategic step that could positively influence the company's economic outcomes in the future.
Furthermore, Exscientia is preparing to initiate a dose escalation cohort in combination with SERD for CDK4/6-refractory HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (mBC). This trial is scheduled to commence by late 2024 or early 2025. The analyst noted that this new development path is significant and is expected to accelerate the drug's time to market.
Additionally, initial Phase 1/2 data across multiple tumor types is anticipated in the second half of 2024. This upcoming data is deemed crucial for beginning to validate Exscientia's platform. The anticipation of these results could play a vital role in shaping the future trajectory of the company's research and development efforts.
In other recent news, Exscientia, an AI-driven drug discovery firm, announced significant developments. The company gained full ownership of the oral CDK7 inhibitor program from GT Apeiron, including rights to GTAEXS617, and its associated intellectual property. The ELUCIDATE trial is currently evaluating '617 for treating advanced solid tumors, with results expected in the latter half of 2024. The agreement with GT Apeiron includes a $10 million upfront cash payment, $10 million in upfront equity, and future single-digit royalties on commercialization of '617.
Exscientia has also expanded its collaboration with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Web Services (AWS) to enhance its drug discovery and automation platform. The partnership aims to accelerate the drug discovery process and reduce costs by utilizing generative AI models and AWS's scalable infrastructure.
In the realm of analyst notes, TD Cowen has initiated coverage on Exscientia's stock with a Buy rating. This endorsement is based on Exscientia's innovative AI platform and its pipeline of next-generation oncology assets. TD Cowen anticipates the initial Phase 1/2 data for Exscientia's CDK7 inhibitor '617, expected in the second half of 2024, to be a pivotal moment for the company. The firm also expects two more Investigational New Drug applications by the end of 2024, offering multiple opportunities to validate Exscientia's platform in the next two years.
InvestingPro Insights
In light of TD Cowen's optimistic perspective on Exscientia PLC (NASDAQ: EXAI), a closer look at the company's financials and market performance through InvestingPro provides additional context. Notably, Exscientia holds more cash than debt on its balance sheet, which could offer financial flexibility as they progress with their promising asset '617 (CDK7i). Furthermore, analysts are forecasting sales growth in the current year, aligning with the strategic moves highlighted by TD Cowen.
From a market standpoint, Exscientia's market cap stands at $682.42M, reflecting investor valuation of the company. Despite facing challenges such as weak gross profit margins with a -34.4% rate over the last twelve months as of Q1 2024, the company has experienced a strong return over the last three months, with a 23.85% price total return. This may indicate a rising investor confidence which could be associated with the strategic developments mentioned in the article.
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