The top 20 healthcare-focused biotech companies collectively raised $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to data sourced from Crunchbase. That represents a 161% increase compared to the $1.1 billion raised by the 20 largest funding rounds involving healthcare-focused biotech companies in Q1 2023, indicating more confident bets on the market viability of…
Rice Biotech Launch Pad plans to make Houston a top-tier biotech hub
Houston boasts many world-class assets that have made it a formidable player on the global stage. From the world’s largest medical complex to mission control for the cosmos, few other cities can compete with its diverse strengths. Houston is also home to the prestigious Rice University, renowned for its leading science and engineering programs. Houston,…
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…
QuantHealth taking a data-driven predictive approach to simulate clinical trials
In drug discovery, the process of shooting for regulatory approval can feel less like a sprint and more like a marathon, but with no guarantee of crossing the finish line. Despite the hefty investment of time, effort and resources, the success rate for bringing new drugs to market hasn’t improved in recent decades. The American…
CEO: Insilico on how AI can ‘imagine the perfect molecules’ for drug targets
Insilico Medicine, an AI-based biotech startup, announced details of their first AI-designed drug candidate to enter human clinical trials. INS018_055 is an experimental treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a rare lung disease. Through their Insilico AI-driven drug discovery platform, they discovered and designed INS018_055 in just 30 months, significantly faster than the industry average. Phase…
Quantum computing promises new frontier in drug discovery and bioinformatics
Quantum computing — described by pop astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson as “computing with atoms” — is an emerging technology with a potential for immense computational speed and power. For some problems, quantum computers can be exponentially faster than classical computers, while for others the speedup may be more measured. The promise for drug discovery could…