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…
Drug development in 2025: 5 expert predictions cover synthetic data, hybrid trials and more
In 2024, we saw the expanded use of synthetic data and natural language processing transform drug discovery and development. In a batch of predictions published in December of 2023, one expert predicted that synthetic data was set to “take off” in drug research. In 2025, the pendulum could begin swinging back the other way, according…
Pfizer veteran pays it forward through AAPS mentorship
When Cindy Oksanen started out at Pfizer’s Groton, Connecticut research headquarters in 1992, she entered an environment where female Ph.D.s in leadership positions were rare. Starting out as a lab scientist, she developed formulations for new drugs including oral dosage forms like tablets and capsules. “We would develop the dosage forms and then transfer the…
Zepbound helps people lose 25% of body weight on average 88 weeks, but weight regain is a concern
Lilly’s hot weight loss drug Zepbound (tirzepatide) may be one of the most effective drug therapies for weight loss. In an open-label 36-week study, participants lost an average of 20.9% of their body weight in 36 weeks. With an average weight of 107.3 kg (236.5 lbs), that equates to about 22.4 kg (49.4 lbs) on average.…
Pfizer Ignite: Kathy Fernando’s vision for accelerating biotech innovation
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…
Novo Nordisk stops once-weekly semaglutide kidney outcomes trial early following interim analysis
Novo Nordisk will halt the phase 3b FLOW trial, which investigated the effects of once-weekly injectable semaglutide on kidney outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). The company reached the decision following the recommendation of the independent Data Monitoring Committee (DMC), following an interim analysis that met pre-specified criteria…
Decoding Bayer’s digital health leap and its implications on drug discovery and personalized medicine
The German multinational pharma and biotech colossus Bayer is taking further steps to ramp up its focus on digital health by launching a new business unit. In 2022, Bayer invested $9.5 million in Woebot Health, an AI-powered behavioral health platform company. In 2020, it launched a venture known as G4A Digital Health Partnership Program to…
Emory and Pfizer partner to develop new COVID-19 treatments
Emory University has partnered with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) to create new drugs and therapies aimed at stopping serious disease from COVID-19. The Emory and Pfizer collaboration will take place in Emory University’s Schinazi Laboratory, led by scientist Raymond Schinazi, with the goal of producing novel antiviral compounds to combat COVID, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Although…
The data to solve many pharmaceutical research problems already exists. We just need to harness it.
In searching for new therapies, pharmaceutical research teams worldwide are conducting experiments daily and generating knowledge. Thanks to this constantly expanding pool of scientific data, we are starting projects with access to more information than ever before. Data is good. The right data is better. But finding the right data is no easy task. Inaccessible…