British start-up Exscientia announced on Thursday an extension of its strategic collaboration agreement with Sanofi, which will be strengthened by a new program.

The artificial intelligence (AI)-based pharmaceutical technology company says it has identified a new target showing a promising degree of efficacy based on the preliminary data it has been able to gather.

The two companies signed a research agreement last year to develop up to 15 new small molecule candidates in oncology and immunology, using Exscientia's AI platform.

This personalized medicine technology enables the integration of primary human tissue samples into the drug discovery process.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Exscientia will receive an upfront payment of $45 million from Sanofi, to which could be added payments and royalties of over $300 million.

The upfront cash payment of $45 million is expected to be reflected in Exscientia's first-quarter 2024 financial results, whose shares were expected to rise by 8% on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

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