Recursion Streamlines Pipeline, Prioritizes Oncology and Rare Diseases Following Exscientia Merger

In a strategic move to sharpen its focus on high-impact therapeutic areas, Recursion Pharmaceuticals has announced a significant restructuring of its drug development pipeline. The Salt Lake City-based biotech, which recently merged with AI drug discovery firm Exscientia, is deprioritizing several clinical-stage programs and narrowing its research efforts primarily to oncology and rare diseases.

Pipeline Restructuring and Program Deprioritization

Recursion has revealed plans to deprioritize three clinical-stage programs: REC-2282 for neurofibromatosis type 2, REC-994 for cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), and REC-3964 for C. difficile infection. The company is also pausing work on REC-4539, which was being developed for reversibility and central nervous system penetration in solid tumors.

Chris Gibson, Ph.D., Recursion's co-founder and CEO, explained the rationale behind these decisions: "Rare disease and oncology indications have been our consistent focus for a while, and this strategic prioritization is a disciplined way of continuing on high-impact opportunities across these therapeutic areas."

The decision to discontinue the CCM program comes after mixed results from a phase 2 trial of REC-994. While the study met its primary safety endpoint, efficacy data failed to demonstrate significant improvements in patient-reported outcomes or physician-led measures at the 12-month mark. Long-term extension results showed no promising trends in MRI or functional outcomes, leading the company to conclude that without a definitive signal, it would not be prudent to move forward.

Focus on Oncology and Rare Diseases

Following this pipeline restructuring, Recursion will advance six active development projects, with four focused on cancer and two targeting potential rare disease indications. The company's ongoing programs cover a range of conditions, including advanced solid tumors, biomarker-enriched solid tumors and lymphoma, B-cell malignancies, breast cancer, and the rare diseases familial adenomatous polyposis and hypophosphatasia.

Najat Khan, Recursion's chief R&D and commercial officer, emphasized the strategic nature of these changes: "As part of our business combination with Exscientia, we are proactively streamlining our portfolio, platform, and operations, making deliberate tradeoffs to focus resources on programs with the strongest scientific rationale and the highest potential for near- and long-term impact."

Financial Update and Collaborative Milestones

Recursion's first-quarter financial results revealed a cash position of approximately $509 million as of March 31, 2025, down from $603 million at the end of December 2024. The company reported total revenue of $15 million for the first three months of 2025, a slight increase from the same period in 2024.

Notably, Recursion announced a $7 million milestone payment from its collaboration with French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. This milestone was achieved after using Recursion's platform to identify an oral small molecule against a "high-interest immune cell target." The Sanofi partnership, originally established by Exscientia in 2022, covers the discovery of up to 15 small molecules in oncology and immunology using AI-based platforms.