MedTechFast growth

BenevolentAI more than doubled its revenue to £10.6 million in 2022 thanks primarily to its collaboration with AstraZeneca.

The drug discovery and development company has a commercial Target ID deal with the pharma giant.

The BenevolentAI platform discovered three additional novel targets for AstraZeneca’s portfolio.A total of five novel targets, two for chronic kidney disease (CKD) and three for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), have now been validated and selected for portfolio-entry by AstraZeneca.

Each novel target selected by AstraZeneca has the potential to generate significant milestones and royalties for BenevolentAI, the company said.

In January 2022, the collaboration was extended for a further three years to include heart failure (HF) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

BenevolentAI, which also received £12.1m in R&D tax credits in the period, listed on Euronext Amsterdam in April 2022, raising £186.8m.

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The firm had a net cash, cash equivalents and short-term deposits position of £130.2m as of 31st December 2022, at the top end of market guidance.

It also grew its pre-clinical pipeline, transitioning three assets into lead optimisation and generating four new drug programmes using its platform.

“With the world’s attention on AI applications that deliver real-world impact, our progress in 2022 strongly positions BenevolentAI to capitalise on this moment,” said CEO Joanna Shields. 

“Our AI platform is proven to enhance drug discovery, as demonstrated by our growing pipeline and successful collaboration with AstraZeneca.”

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