Press release

Professor Andrew Hopkins elected Fellow of the Royal Society

Published on 10 May 2023

Professor Andrew Hopkins, founder and Chief Executive of Exscientia plc and an Honorary Professor at the University of Dundee, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

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Professor Hopkins is one of the UK’s most eminent science and technology business leaders, pairing pharmaceutical research with the benefits of cutting-edge AI technology to design, discover and develop new precision medicines for people in need.

He founded Exscientia in 2012, ‘spinning out’ the work of his laboratory in the School of Life Sciences at Dundee. Exscientia has been a massive success: it is the fastest growing biotechnology company in the UK, completing Europe’s biggest ever biotechnology intellectual property offering in 2021, raising $510M.

On being named a Fellow of the Royal Society, Andrew said, “Passionate scientists have the power to change the world. Exceptional science married with outstanding technology can achieve this change even faster and make scientific progress accessible for all. I feel privileged to accept this Fellowship.”

Professor Hopkins continues his affiliation with the University of Dundee as an honorary Professor, and as an honorary graduate. On receiving his Honorary Degree last year, he said of Dundee, “I don’t think we could have built the company the same way anywhere else.”

Professor Iain Gillespie, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Dundee, said, “The success of Exscientia is grounded in Andrew’s unique blend of interdisciplinary thinking across chemistry, computer science and pharmacology, as well as his ability to innovate and his entrepreneurial flair. His election as a fellow of the Royal Society is a wonderful recognition of all of this.”

Professor Hopkins joins approximately 1,700 Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society comprising the most distinguished scientists, technology and engineering pioneers from the UK, the Commonwealth and beyond, including some 85 Nobel Laureates. Royal Society Fellows and Foreign Members are elected for life in recognition of their exceptional contributions to science.

Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, said, “I am delighted to welcome our newest cohort of Fellows. These individuals have pushed forward the boundaries of their respective fields and had a beneficial influence on the world beyond. They are pioneering scientists and innovators from around the world who have confounded expectations and transformed our thinking. This year’s intake have already achieved incredible things, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so. I look forward to meeting them and following their contributions in future.”

As CEO of Exscientia, one of the UK’s biggest and fastest growing biotech companies today, Professor Hopkins heads a global team of over 400 scientists and technology experts based in the UK, Austria, US and beyond. For its end-to-end AI-driven precision medicine platform, Exscientia won the Prix Galien USA 2022 for Digital Health, frequently regarded as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research. Prior to Exscientia, Dr Hopkins held the Chairs of Medicinal Informatics and Translational Biology at the University of Dundee and spent a decade at Pfizer leading informatics groups.

Notes to editors

For more about Exscientia visit https://www.exscientia.ai

Enquiries

Roddy Isles

Head of Corporate Communication

+44 (0)1382 384910

r.isles@dundee.ac.uk