Exscientia CEO sacked for 'inappropriate' staffer relations

UK biotech Exscientia has terminated the employment of its founder and chief executive, Dr Andrew Hopkins, effective immediately, over what is described as “inappropriate relationships” with two employees.

Hopkins (52, pictured above) has also been removed as an executive director of Exscientia, and an investigation has been launched into his conduct, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

He has been replaced in the meantime by Dave Hallett, who has served as the company’s chief science officer since February 2023 and chief operating officer since 2020, until a new CEO is found.

Hallet is a biopharma industry veteran with more than 20 years of experience, and previously held roles at Evotec and MSD/Merck & Co.

Chair resigns

Also heading for the exit is board chairman David Nicholson, according to the update, which said he had prior knowledge of Hopkins’ relationships but had addressed the situation directly “with the involvement of other outside counsel, rather than in consultation with the board.”

Nicholson has tendered his resignation and will be replaced on an interim basis by non-executive board member Elizabeth Crain, a co-founder of investment bank Moelis & Co.

In a statement to the press, Oxford-based Exscientia said: “Dr Hopkins’ personal conduct did not impact Exscientia’s consolidated financial statements or our internal controls over financial reporting. His termination is unrelated to the company’s operational or financial performance.”

It added: “The company remains committed to advancing its internal oncology pipeline and broad partnership portfolio through AI-based drug design and laboratory technologies.” Despite the comments, the company’s Nasdaq-listed shares lost around a fifth of their value after the announcement.

The chaos in Exscientia’s senior management team comes shortly after the biotech reined in a period of rapid expansion of its R&D pipeline, narrowing its in-house activities to selected oncology programmes that it said offer the greatest chance of making a difference to patients and sidelining some projects including phase 1/2 adenosine A2a receptor antagonist EXS21546.

Its partnered projects – including a recently signed $674 million alliance with Merck KGaA in cancer and immunology – have not been affected by the change in strategy, and it remains well funded, with more than $500 million in cash reserves at the time of its interim 2023 financial update.

Hopkins’ sacking comes just days after he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year honours list.