BenevolentAI Provides an Update on Its Business Priorities - Seite 2

As part of this evaluation of business priorities the overall headcount of the Company has been reviewed and following the decisions announced today, it is proposed that headcount will be reduced by around 30% and headcount is expected to end the year at c.180. Importantly, key skills, experience and capabilities have been retained and these reductions maintain the Company’s ability to execute on existing, or sign new, collaborations and continue to develop its core pipeline programmes. Additionally, the Company will close its US office. It is imperative for the operational effectiveness of the Company to have strong integration between its technology and scientific teams, and management believes this can be best achieved over its two largest sites in London and Cambridge, UK.

While investment will continue to be made into the Company’s pipeline programmes and development of the BenevolentAI Platform, the amended business priorities outlined above will result in a reduced cash burn of c.20% which will extend the Company’s cash runway to late Q3 2025. The Company will continue to explore all opportunities to fund the cash runway gap to year end 2025, at which time further larger milestones are expected to be received from existing partner programmes. These opportunities include potentially signing new drug discovery collaborations and out-licensing of the Company’s proprietary pipeline assets, where ongoing discussions with third parties are making good progress. The Company remains committed to its previous guidance of signing at least one new collaboration and out-licensing at least one of its pipeline assets during 2024. The Company will also continue to investigate a broad range of options to expand its shareholder base and also improve liquidity in its shares.

Dr. Joerg Moeller, Chief Executive Officer of BenevolentAI, said: “While these situations are always difficult, as a company we have a duty to our shareholders to optimise capital allocation in the areas where we believe the potential return is the greatest. BenevolentAI is an AI augmented drug discovery company uniting science and technology with the aim to develop life-changing medicines for patients. Therefore, I believe that focusing our organisation on furthering our drug discovery collaborations and progressing our proprietary pipeline is the best way to achieve both the goal, of delivering value creation for our shareholders and delivering innovative medicines to patients suffering from very serious medical conditions.”