Exscientia Fires CEO for Alleged Inappropriate Relationships (1)

The AI drug-discovery company Exscientia Plc fired founder and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Hopkins following allegations of inappropriate relationships with two employees.

The Oxford-based firm, in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, said its board concluded that the relationships were “inappropriate and inconsistent with the company’s standards and values” after an investigation. Exscientia is one of the first companies to have AI-discovered drugs enter clinical trials. The American depositary receipts fell as much as 20% in New York.

The upheaval comes less than two months after Hopkins, the company’s charismatic founder, received an order of ...