Excellence in Media Relations

Summary of work

Today, our knowledge of disease is so much greater than ever before. Yet, productivity outputs in the pharma industry over the past 10 years have declined from 10% IRR a decade ago, to around 1% today. There's a paradox between our increasing knowledge, and technology adoption.
Leading UK pharma-tech, Exscientia, knows that AI and machine learning can make a fundamental difference in getting drugs to the patient, faster. In January of 2020 - when the company was ready to announce a world-first: that their precision-engineered drug, designed using artificial intelligence (AI), was about to enter Phase 1 clinical trials – this presented an opportunity to showcase the potential AI has to transform an industry still working in outdated ways.
We crafted a media strategy to create awareness around the use of AI in the industry, whilst also positioning Exscientia as a front runner in this space. By crafting a tailored media strategy focused on educating media about the solution to the ongoing productivity challenge, we positioned Exscientia as an undisputed leader, with more than 120 pieces of coverage including an exclusive in the Financial Times. The team exceeded KPIs by more than 150%, with a potential reach of 2.69 billion.

Judges' comments

Fantastic results that demonstrate KPI’s were exceeded and the objectives were met. The proactive approaches by media and speaking ops really show that the leadership position was achieved. The team from Edelman and Exscientia should be very proud of this campaign and of their achievements.