Kathy Fernando, the senior vice president, head of Pfizer Ignite and Pfizer CentreOne, has had a professional trajectory marked by pivotal serendipities. One occurred when attending a seminar at the University of Pennsylvania, where she met Dr. Drew Weissman, a prominent immunologist and RNA vaccine researcher. Weissman, along with Katalin Karikó, recently received the Nobel…
Biotech sees new shoots of growth but has thorns left to prune
Today, Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks’ recently unveiled a deal with Pfizer on RNA-based drug candidates, reflecting the growing interest in RNA therapies. Additionally, Carlsbad, California–based Ionis Pharmaceuticals inked a pact with Roche focused on RNA-targeted therapies for Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s diseases. This development underscores the resilience of prominent biotech hubs. According to data from real estate…
The balancing act of biotherapy: Be The Match BioTherapies’ Abby Waters on agility and beyond
Professionals in the biotherapy world are engaged in a sort of balancing act, juggling the nuances of product development, complex science, leadership dynamics, and patient-centricity. In a recent interview, Abby Waters, Ph.D., senior manager of solution owners at Be The Match BioTherapies, opens up about her decade-long journey navigating these multifaceted challenges. From embracing agile…
Molecular photoswitches: Illuminating the future of inherited retinal disease treatment
Vision, one of our most valued senses, is a complex orchestration of light-sensing photoreceptors, neurons, and intricate pathways leading to the brain. Central to this native biological system are the photoreceptors – the rods and cones – cells that are responsible for capturing light and initiating visual perception. For many with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs),…
10 rising stars of North American biotech: Cities emerging as life sciences hubs
As the biotech industry matures, several North American cities are emerging biotech hubs, aiming to become the next epicenters of innovation and growth. While traditional hubs like Boston and San Francisco continue to dominate, a new wave of cities is making strides in biotech. For instance, Pittsburgh, an up-and-coming biotech hub, is tapping its biomanufacturing…
Ginkgo Bioworks and Google Cloud forge five-year AI and biology partnership
Founded in 2008, Ginkgo Bioworks’ stock jumped almost 25% on August 29, hitting $2.22, after unveiling a five-year partnership with Google Cloud. The partnership centers around the development of novel AI tools for biology and biosecurity. In particular, Ginkgo hopes to further its mission to make biology easier to engineer in the AI era. Opting…
Cellares teams up with Bristol Myers Squibb to explore automated CAR-T cell therapy manufacturing
Less than a week after announcing that it has secured $255 million in Series C funding, South San Francisco-based startup Cellares has revealed that Bristol Myers Squibb has joined its Technology Adoption Partnership (TAP) program. To date, the company has raised more than $355 million in total financing. As part of the TAP program, Bristol…
Navigating the future of cell therapies with bit.bio exec Kathryn Corzo
Her previous roles include a stint as the head of development for oncology cell therapies at Takeda. She also led the North American Innovation Center and R&D Digital Accelerator at Sanofi and held a leadership role in Lilly’s oncology business unit. Bit.bio’s differentiated approach Corzo’s decision to join bit.bio was rooted in the company’s pioneering…
30 promising biotech startups: Scatter plot
The preceding visual representation of the biotech startups of 2023 are grouped — clustered — according to their focus areas. Each cluster color corresponds to a specific domain: Orange for advanced molecular techniques (Cluster 0). Blue for cell and gene therapies (Cluster 1). Green for AI-driven drug discovery (Cluster 2). Red for epigenetics and genomic…
Interactive snapshot: 30 promising biotech startups
2023 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for promising biotech startups. While the sector faced multiple waves of layoffs, a silver lining is evident: the growing maturity of AI and genomics technologies is fueling a new wave of startup advances, especially in drug development. Amidst the backdrop of that turbulence, a select group…
30 biotech startups making waves
The biotech industry is facing a reckoning in 2023. To date, roughly 100 biopharmas have cut workers this year, matching the total number of layoffs in the sector in 2022. Many biotech startups have been hit hard. The wave of job cuts comes on the heels of a biotech boom following the COVID-19 pandemic, when…
10x Genomics’ Chromium platform sheds light on CAR T-cell therapy persistence
Therapy persistence is a vital factor in determining the success of CAR-Ts for blood cancers like leukemia. While CAR-Ts hold great promise for blood cancers such as leukemia, in some cases, the durability of the treatment falls short, leading to a potential relapse. A positive study from researchers at University College London, Great Ormond Street…
Decoding the future of RNA vaccines with Aldevron’s Venkata Indurthi
From tackling the COVID-19 pandemic to paving the way for future global health challenges, RNA vaccines have rapidly gained attention in recent years. Researchers are already working to extend their capabilities for next-gen medicines. For example, scientists are working to create multivalent RNA formulations that can fight multiple virus variants. They are also exploring AI…
The shift from manual to machine learning in cell and gene therapy drug discovery
Cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing is rapidly transitioning from scientific curiosity to clinical reality. But the manufacturing complexity of CGTs far outpaces traditional biologics production, presenting a multifaceted challenge that is part scientific, part technological. “The manufacturing process for cell therapies and gene therapies is infinitely more complex than it is for let’s say,…
Take a global tour of 19 major biotech hubs with our interactive map
The international biotech sector clocked in at $1.37 trillion in 2022 despite headwinds such as slow launches, long-term drug pricing shifts and changing consumer behavior. Recent biotech breakthroughs include the development of an Ebola vaccine, progress in genetic testing and drug treatments and advances in artificial tissue growth. This article explores several leading biotech…
CGT demands vision, partnership and patient-centricity to transform healthcare
As personalized medicine continues to progress, cell and gene therapy (CGT) development is poised to enable tremendous medical breakthroughs. Unlike traditional treatments which merely manage symptoms, CGT could treat the root biological cause of many diseases: the faulty genes. “The cell and gene therapy space is truly exciting. What this ultimately means for patients and…
How AI and the cloud can transform R&D workflows and fuel collaboration
The rise of cloud-based systems and AI-assisted analysis has dramatically transformed the landscape of scientific research and collaboration. One striking example is the mRNA company Moderna, which used the cloud to develop and deliver its first clinical batch of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate for phase 1 trials in a mere 42 days after the initial…
A new microparticle approach may offer hope for reversing multiple sclerosis
Johns Hopkins researchers have made strides in a study focusing on multiple sclerosis. By applying microparticles to activate regulatory T cells, they were able to reverse MS-like symptoms in mice. There is no cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). But a recent study by Johns Hopkins Medicine shows encouraging progress towards: They have demonstrated the ability…
AdAPT-001 oncolytic adenovirus shows promising phase 1 cancer treatment results
Oncolytic adenoviruses have won significant attention in recent years as a novel approach to cancer treatment. One example of the trend is AdAPT-001 TGF-ß Trap, an engineered variant of the common cold virus equipped with a transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) “trap.” This mechanism is designed to latch onto and neutralize TGF-β, an immunosuppressive cytokine involved…
Opentrons Flex flexes the power of AI in lab automation
Brooklyn-based lab automation company Opentrons has debuted its new Flex robot, with the aim of broadening access to advanced lab automation for life scientists. In a recent email interview, Opentrons CEO, Jonathan Brennan-Badal, highlighted that the Opentrons Flex robot is designed to offer a technically sophisticated, yet economically accessible automation platform for life scientists. The…
Deepcell’s REM-I platform marries AI with morphological analysis for drug discovery
From her early days as a research assistant at UCLA, to her work as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford, Deepcell co-founder and CEO Maddison Mahdokht Masaeli has actively engaged in the field of biomedical engineering. Now, Masaeli and her team at Deepcell, a company she co-founded in 2017, are introducing a new strategy to drug…
Capsida Biotherapeutics to present preliminary findings on engineered AAV capsids at ASGCT annual meeting
The gene therapy platform company Capsida Biotherapeutics (Thousand Oaks, California) is gearing up to unveil initial data on its engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids at the upcoming American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 26th Annual Meeting, held May 16–20 in Los Angeles. In developing these capsids, Capsida Chief Scientific Officer Susan Catalano explained…
Spotlight on the top 10 pharma employers of 2023
This roundup explores the top 10 pharma employers of 2023, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement based on employee reviews and industry trends. In our ranking of top employers, we combined data from multiple sources using a weighted approach, emphasizing employee satisfaction, company benefits and industry recognition. Topping the list are Recursion Pharmaceuticals and…
Viral vector analysis for successful targeting in gene therapy
April 25, 2023 is an important anniversary in the field of genomics. It marks the seventieth anniversary of four scientists — James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin — publishing a paper in Nature and proposing the double helix structure of DNA1. The discovery of the double helix with complementary strands helped scientists…
Unraveling the impact of FDORA and PREVENT Pandemics Acts on the life sciences
As the world continues to grapple with global health challenges, the role of science and biotech law has taken center stage in shaping public health policy and innovation. The FDORA and PREVENT Pandemics Acts are poised to help shape the landscape. In a recent interview, life sciences attorney Barbara Binzak Blumenfeld offers insights into significant…