Drug Discovery

In an industry where each lost day can drain roughly $40,000 in direct clinical-trial costs, Lokavant says its newly launched Spectrum v15 can crunch data from 500,000 past studies and deliver enrollment forecasts in five minutes, work that typically takes study teams five weeks. The company claims that the platform boasts 80+% confidence. The company,…

Peptides are currently experiencing a surge of interest in drug discovery and development. With more than 170 peptides currently in active clinical development1 and many more in preclinical studies2, the global market for peptide-based therapeutics is expected to grow to approximately $80 billion by 2032.3 But while the use of peptides within pharmaceuticals has been…

Targeted Protein Degradation (TPD) has  emerged as a promising modality in drug discovery, hijacking the body’s natural disposal systems to eliminate disease-causing proteins. While bivalent degraders like PROTACs have pioneered the field, demonstrating clinical promise, attention is increasingly turning toward a new upstart — Molecular Glue Degraders (MGDs). These smaller, simpler molecules offer advantages but…

One of the biggest frustrations for anyone involved in clinical research or patient care is the continued challenges of advancing pre-clinical research into a clinical trial. Likewise, finding and recruiting ideal clinical trial participants for each trial phase, such as those with rare conditions or whose current health condition matches stringent clinical trial inclusion criteria,…

The once pioneering DNA test company 23andMe is now a penny stock that has filed for bankruptcy. Its CEO Anne Wojcicki is also stepping down. In 2018, the company was worth in the ballpark of $1.75 billion. Its stock has fallen 99.64% since after it went public in 2021, dropping form $203.20 to about $0.70…

Digital pathology software developer Proscia raised $50 million in new funding to accelerate the adoption of its AI-powered pathology platform. The Series C fundraising round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from AI Capital Partners, Triangle Peak Partners and several other healthcare-focused investors. The financing brings Proscia’s total capital raised to $130 million. Proscia…

​Over 300 million people worldwide live with a rare disease, yet roughly 95% of these conditions lack an FDA-approved treatment. Traditional clinical trials face significant challenges in this segment. Barriers include small patient populations with correspondingly limited statistical power. Yet emerging biosimulation and virtual trial methods offer a promising path forward., says Oxana Iliach, vice-chair…

Oxford Nanoimaging (ONI) recently launched the Aplo Scope super-resolution microscope that pushes imaging precision to 20 nm. The Aplo Scope integrates lasers, optics, chemistry, and software in a compact footprint, helping researchers capture and analyze molecular interactions at the nanoscale. With its user-friendly design and portability, ONI aims to simplify super-resolution microscopy and potentially reduce…

In recent years, the clinical research landscape has been marked by a steady rise in protocol complexity with more endpoints and procedures across all trial phases and therapeutic areas. This trend, driven by the increasing sophistication of trial designs, is evident across trial phases and major therapeutic areas. Resulting in more endpoints and procedures on…

Imagine a shape-shifting pathogen invisible to the naked eye, armed with toxin-laced barbs that rupture human cells. This isn’t fiction—it’s Clostridioides difficile, a superbug causing 29,000 U.S. deaths annually through severe diarrhea and colitis. After an initial infection, up to 35% of patients experience recurrence, with subsequent episodes becoming increasingly likely—up to 60% of these…

When a 30-person Austrian startup gets showcased by Jensen Huang, CEO of the trillion-dollar tech giant NVIDIA, schedules tend to fill up fast. That’s precisely the case for Innophore, a biotech company tapping NVIDIA’s computational clout with its Catalophore platform to accelerate AI-driven drug safety screening and binding-site analysis. This year, the company was highlighted…

After several muted years, the 2025 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference signaled a return to big-ticket deals. J&J’s proposed $14.6 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies and GSK’s $1 billion purchase of IDRx catapulted this year’s meeting to the largest M&A showing since at least 2019. But behind those high-profile acquisition announcements, JPM speakers and insiders also…

NVIDIA today announced at JP Morgan partnerships with IQVIA, Illumina, Mayo Clinic and Arc Institute that center on accelerating biomedical AI across genomics, drug development, and clinical diagnostics. The collaborations aim to tap advanced computing across the healthcare sector, with IQVIA deploying AI agents for clinical trials, Illumina integrating genomic analysis tools, Mayo Clinic developing…

Tel Aviv-based QuantHealth is on a roll. In August 2024, it surpasses the 100th mark in simulated clinical trials with an 85% accuracy rate and reported cost savings upwards of $215 million for one major pharmaceutical partner. In March of the same year, Fast Company recognized QuantHealth as one of the most innovative companies in…

Building on existing integrations with cloud leaders AWS and Google Cloud and collaborations with Arcadia and TD2, Atropos Health is now partnering with Merck. This new collaboration will tap Atropos Health’s GENEVA OS (Generative Evidence Acceleration Operating System) and related tools with the aim of speeding the generation of real-world evidence. Under the agreement, Merck’s…

From FHIR-based APIs to “hybrid data models” and blockchain-enabled audit trails, biopharma companies are exploring a range of strategies in their quest to incorporate Real World Data (RWD) into clinical trials. But technology alone won’t resolve the deeper issues at play. From bridging disparate data sources to safeguarding patient privacy under evolving regulations, sponsors face…

Let’s say there’s a Black female patient with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She meets with her oncologist to discuss a promising targeted therapy that recently won FDA approval. The drug showed strong efficacy in clinical trials, with a 65% response rate. Yet when she asks about efficacy data specific to Black women, she…

To the untrained eye, psoriasis might look like a simple skin condition, marked by itching, scaly patches. Yet psoriasis is an immune-mediated disease with systemic consequences. As Dr. Graham Heap, vice president and global program leader at Takeda, explained during a recent interview, “Psoriasis might manifest as plaques on the skin, but it’s an immune…

A growing chorus of experts agree: 2025 signals a year when AI and its generative variants (genAI) move beyond early experimentation into a period of tangible, large-scale impact — including in the life sciences. While challenges remain as EY recently noted, the future will likely be one where the focus shifts from anticipating breakthrough genAI…

In 2025, genetic validation is poised to emerge as a high-stakes litmus test in cardiovascular R&D, investors will continue to get better at funneling cash into proven science, and patients will continue their evolution to become more-active partners shaping their healthcare. To hear more about each of these trends, we considered feedback from three industry…

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard design for studies supporting drug approvals, but they are not always feasible, due to factors such as ethical concerns or very small patient populations.  When an RCT is not possible, researchers may opt for a single-arm trial (SAT), which does not include an internal control group, but…

The development of Proteolysis Targeting Chimeras, or “PROTACs*,” has garnered significant attention in the pharmaceutical industry due to their potential to target and degrade disease-causing proteins previously considered undruggable. As a novel therapeutic modality, PROTACs offer a promising alternative to traditional small-molecule inhibitors and biologics. However, despite the excitement around these therapies, preclinical evaluations of…

As the complexity, sophistication, and size of clinical trials have grown exponentially, the need for specialized expertise—often spanning various regions around the globe—has also expanded, along with the demand for flexible staff allocation. Consequently, clinical operations staffing has undergone significant transformations in recent years. The trend has shifted from relying on direct internal hires, to…

Today’s large language models can be as unreliable as they are eloquent. Their tendency to fabricate facts and lose the thread makes them risky tools for scientific research, especially in highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and chemistry. They also struggle to provide sources and will fabricate a bogus academic journal without batting an eye. Speaking…

The global AI drug discovery market, valued around $1 to $1.7 billion in 2023, will be worth a multiple of that by the decade’s end. Analysts project the sector could be worth $9 billion or more. 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry Recipients: David Baker Demis Hassabis John Jumper Achievement: Computational protein design and structure prediction…