Oxford Drug Design

A new leader in AI-based drug discovery

Oxford Drug Design, an advanced spinout from Oxford University, is an innovative biotechnology company discovering and developing novel therapeutics supported by pioneering computational methods.

We are discovering new drugs with differentiated modes of action against challenging diseases with high unmet medical need. Based on a core competence platform in tRNA synthetase enzymes and distinctive AI/ML methods, our pipeline expansion is focused on oncology.

Our differentiated drug discovery platform has been validated by the rapid discovery of novel therapeutic candidates with highly innovative chemical scaffolds and modes of action against urgent pathogens.

 

Dual core competences

The strong drug design and development expertise of Oxford Drug Design results from a distinctive combination of our two core competences:

I. Comprehensive capabilities in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRS)

II. Pioneering computational AI and machine learning methods

Each is distinctive in its own right, yet the seamless in-house integration of the two complementary strengths produces an even deeper and more differentiated capability.

I. Core expertise in Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases

From the extensive work in our most advanced program in novel anti-infectives, Oxford Drug Design has established a core strength in aaRS inhibition. This comprises:

  • In-depth knowledge of aaRS structural biology, including proprietary X-ray crystallographic data

  • Library of designed, novel, patent protected, chemotypes showing potent inhibitory activity

  • Comprehensive in-vitro and in-vivo characterization

  • Computational models (see below) focused specifically on aaRS

  • Efficient network of chemistry and biology CRO’s with aaRS expertise

This expertise enables efficient expansion into other major disease areas where aaRS enzymes also play key roles. Our current focus is against cancer.

More details are presented in our Pipeline section.

II. Core competence in pioneering AI drug discovery platform

AI and machine learning are transforming drug discovery.

Oxford Drug Design’s multi-level AI platform creates models to optimize molecular properties and thus obtain candidate drugs faster and more successfully.

We have developed completely new ways of representing the shape and properties of molecules that allow the efficient, accurate exploration of hundreds of millions of possible compounds. These are founded on the latest developments in computational science and mathematics.

Our proprietary AI methods are powerful and diverse. Interpretable machine-learning technologies, pattern recognition, neural networks and multi-parameter optimization incorporate internal and public domain data and transform it into actionable models for faster and more robust drug development progression.

This differentiated technology platform builds on more than 10 years of foundational work in cheminformatics, bioinformatics and statistics, thus developing tried-and-tested methods that work in the practical domain.

More details are presented in our Technology section.

The powerful, seamless, combination of our two core competences lead us to develop innovative therapeutics with novel modes of action and chemotypes against challenging disease pathways.

It guides us to better decisions and increased probability of success in addressing unmet medical needs.