Sensyne Health partnership to accelerate AI data-driven drug discovery

Sensyne Health, Evotec, OSI and the University of Oxford have created a new partnership called LAB10x to accelerate data-driven drug discovery powered by AI.

Evotec SE a global drug discovery and development company, the University of Oxford, Oxford University Innovation Ltd and Oxford Sciences Innovation aim to accelerate the translation of research in the fields of clinical artificial intelligence and digital health at Oxford into breakthrough digital therapeutics, clinical AI algorithms and to accelerate data-driven drug discovery and development.

Projects will be sourced exclusively from University of Oxford researchers via OUI across therapeutic areas and modalities and will be aided by an expert in residence seconded by Sensyne Health to the LAB10x initiative and embedded in the University. The technologies developed by LAB10x will be applied to generate and analyse anonymised patient datasets to improve patient outcomes and accelerate medical research and pharmaceutical R&D.

LAB10x will be supported by a fund of £5m (more than EUR 5.6m) for an initial period of three years.

Evotec and Sensyne will be entitled to equity in new LAB10x spin-out companies together with Oxford University and its academic researchers. Both companies, together with OSI, will have the right to co-invest in seed financing rounds. Where company creation is not the chosen commercial path, Sensyne will have the right to acquire a licence to IP generated by the selected projects.

Lord Drayson, CEO of Sensyne Health, said “LAB10x will leverage Sensyne’s expertise in digital health and clinical AI, our regulated development environment and our unique partnership model with the University of Oxford and NHS Trusts to ensure the science is brought through to application as quickly and efficiently as possible – delivering benefits for patients and creating significant value.”

Dr Werner Lanthaler, CEO of Evotec, said “The medicine of the future will see radical change, driven by the continuing expansion of drug discovery technologies like artificial intelligence and healthcare mega trends like digital health. Evotec and our partners will continue to invest in these areas and we are pleased to launch LAB10x with Sensyne Health, OSI, OUI, and the University of Oxford. Today’s announcement demonstrates the power of forming public-private partnerships in drug discovery to create the next generation of medicines in an effective and efficient manner.”

Dr Matt Perkins, CEO of Oxford University Innovation said “Building on LAB282, the pioneering public-private drug discovery partnership model that has now been replicated around the world, LAB10x aims to combine the rapidly growing body of world-class research in data driven health innovation at Oxford with expertise, resources and an industry standard development framework for digital health innovations. Today’s announcement provides a solution to a significant unmet need that has the potential to maximise the global impact of Oxford’s research and expertise, leading to better healthcare technologies, disease insights, treatments and cures.”

The LAB10x name was chosen by the partners collectively to signify how critical data-driven healthcare can be accelerated from concept to innovation ten times faster, as the result of the cumulative experience of the LAB10x partners involved and by applying an agile development methodology within a regulated framework.