David Schemelia’s Post

AI can beat grandmasters at chess and outwit the world’s best at Go – but is it better than humans at coming up with new drugs? We speak to Dr Dave H. (Exscientia Chief Scientific Officer and Interim CEO) and Dr Alex Zhavoronkov (Insilico Medicine Founder and CEO) about their work revolutionising drug discovery: https://hubs.la/Q02vkX_q0 #artificialintelligence #AI #drugdiscovery #bioinformatics #computationalbiology #pharma #biotech Also mentioned: Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd., Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck Group, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Relay Therapeutics, Nimbus Therapeutics, Healx, Google DeepMind

From $0.9 Billion to $4.9 Billion: AI Drug Discovery Market Growth Forecast Download Sample Report PDF: https://lnkd.in/ddwMvvFz Estimated at $0.9 billion in 2023, the revenue of the global AI in drug discovery sector is expected to expand to $4.9 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.2% during this period. Enterprises operating within this industry: Active Motif The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology      Structure Therapeutics Antheia, Inc. Genesis Therapeutics Kallyope Ligand Pharmaceuticals Remix Therapeutics   NextRNA Therapeutics Terray Therapeutics      Bonafide Health   Flare Therapeutics iXCells Biotechnologies Kumquat Biosciences Inc. Plexium Zephyr AI     Kojin Therapeutics Neomorph, Inc.    GemPharmatech Cell Applications, Inc. Incendia Therapeutics Cajal Neuroscience    Belharra Therapeutics Stark Associates LLC Terremoto Biosciences Hamilton Storage     Sartorius Jubilant Pharmova Limited Dompé Evotec Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services Limited 1910 Genetics abcam BenevolentAI Exscientia   Pharmaron Selleck Chemicals LLC CENTOGENE #AIinMedicine #DigitalHealth #BioTechSolutions #MedicalInnovations #DrugDiscoveryMarket #AIAdvancements #PharmaceuticalTechnology #PrecisionMedicineAI #BiotechResearch #FuturePharma #HealthcareInnovation #AIResearch #DrugInnovation #TechForMedicine #BioinformaticsAI #PharmaResearch #MedicalAI #InnovativePharma #DrugDevelopmentAI #BiotechAI

Leveraging #AI and #ML technology to accelerate drug development. Science and technology synergy…

CHF 1.1 million for research to overcome drug toxicity effects: FluoSphera, spin-off of EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne) and University of Geneva, secures a major grant from Innosuisse. Congratulations to founders Gregory Segala, Clélia Bourgoint, and their ambitious team - all the best onwards! https://lnkd.in/etDQrgVR About: FluoSphera has developed in vitro human biosystems that mimic essential features of human body organization. FluoSphera's biosystems generate data that predict much better the effects of drugs on patients, thus reducing the costs of drug development failure up to several hundreds of million dollars per drug. Using this technology, FluoSphera proposes R&D services to pharmaceutical companies willing to de-risk drug development projects. Drug profiling with our biosystems allows the discovery of more efficient drugs for the patients, with less adverse side effects, and it contributes to reduce animal experimentation. FluoSphera is a 2022 alumnus of Venture Kick. #VentureKick #SwissStartups

Unlock your drug's potential: The power of Target Product Profiles. James Whalen (he/him/his), senior consultant at The NemetzGroup LLC, lays out the critical strategy informed by the Target Product Profiles (TPP) to ensure the products biopharma companies are developing can achieve their vision and deliver for patients by ensuring all factors are considered, contingencies are assessed, and diverse stakeholders have had input. Jim summarizes the importance of knowing where the market will be so there are no surprises by the time it is too late to pivot and adjust. The biopharma landscape is competitive. A clear TPP can be the key to success. Think of a TPP as a roadmap guiding development from concept to market. https://lnkd.in/e_Zcaijm Stay tuned for Part Two coming next month, where we’ll share some real-world case studies of the important role the TPP played along the development journey in some emerging biopharma companies. #TargetProductProfile #DrugDevelopment #pharma #biotech #ClinicalTrials

Great article by Jim on the importance of TPPs!

Synendos Therapeutics AG is excited to announce the publication of the latest article written by Andrea Chicca and Jürg Gertsch, “CNS Drug Discovery in Academia: Where Basic Research Meets Innovation“, now available on #ChemBioChem: https://lnkd.in/eZ4mcQ7D In this article, they provide their perspective on the interaction between academia and drug discovery based on a 12-year experience with the NCCR-TransCure project, from which Synendos Therapeutics AG originated. Read the full article and discover how innovative research in academia can inspire drug discovery. #Biotech #Academia #drugdiscovery #ChemBioChem #SERI #endocannabinoidsystem

Small biotech companies may have what big Pharma companies are missing The resources in big Pharma companies are not unlimited and despite their enormous and very broad expertise in Research and Development they cannot do everything by themselves. In fact and when it comes to specific areas and capabilities big Pharma companies need to rely on external cooperations and partners. This opens the door for small biotech companies, because they may be able to offer what big companies are lacking. Their spectrum reaches from platforms which may deliver new therapeutic approaches to platforms with novel technologies / approaches which may be incorporated into the existing preclinical and clinical testing strategies. While it is obvious that platforms which are delivering external drug candidates thereby contributing to the build-up of a portfolio have attracted the highest interest of big pharmaceutical companies, also the latter part, i.e. technology platforms / models such as organ chips or organoids which can be implemented into preclinical or clinical testing strategies with the goal to improve the overall low likelyhood of technical success must not be underestimated. In fact, the low likelyhood of technical success remains the biggest challenge for all R&D organizations. Failures in late stage development are costing enormous amounts of money. Unfortunately failures are part of the business in drug research and development but - if unavoidable - the goal must at least be to detect those failures early on and prior to large investments. In this context, it is hoped that new technologies / new approaches along with artificial intelligence / machine learning will support better predictions and thereby better outcomes for patients. Small biotech companies with their power to innovate have the potential to make significant contributions to the protection and improvement of human health by applying such technologies and approaches. While it is clear that it may still take some time and huge efforts before novel alternative methodologies can be used to fully replace the existing testing strategies, the use of such models to answer a particular question can already be justified now. Much is going on in the field and there are a number of players which are putting enormous efforts into these developments. As indicated in a recent press release by Fox40 one of those companies is Lena Biosciences, a small company which is combining advanced, 3D tissue models and high-sensitivity, mechanistic assays for safety and efficacy evaluations of drugs, chemicals and biologics. The basis for any new technology is science and the founders of Lena Biosciences, Jelena Vukasinovic and James T Shoemaker are clearly following the science which is also reflected in the fact that their patented products are backed by the awards from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Georgia Research Alliance and the Marcus Foundation.

Despite amazing progress in basic life sciences and biotechnology, drug discovery and development (DDD) remain slow and expensive, taking on average approximately 15 years and approximately US$2 billion to make a small-molecule drug. Although it is accepted that clinical studies are the priciest part of the development of each drug, most time-saving and cost-saving opportunities reside in the earlier discovery and preclinical stages. Preclinical efforts themselves account for more than 43% of expenses in pharma, in addition to major public funding, driven by the high attrition rate at every step from target selection to hit identification and lead optimization to the selection of clinical candidates. The concept of computer-aided drug discovery was developed in the 1970s and popularized by Fortune magazine in 1981, and has since been through several cycles of hype and disillusionment. There have been success stories along the way5 and, in general, computer-assisted approaches have become an integral, yet modest, part of the drug discovery process. In the past few years, however, several scientific and technological breakthroughs resulted in a tectonic shift towards embracing computational approaches as a key driving force for drug discovery in both academia and industry.

Stories making headlines today in the biopharma industry: Biopharma Sector Highlights - October 2023 1. **Top-Paid Biopharma CEOs of 2023**: This year’s highest earners in biopharma include leaders from major firms such as Amgen, Pfizer, and Eli Lilly. CEOs Bob Bradway, Albert Bourla, and David Ricks, among others, commanded more than $20M each, driven by substantial incentive packages. 2. **FTC Scrutiny of PBMs**: A recent 73-page FTC report underscores the substantial market influence of a few dominant pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Although no immediate antitrust actions were recommended, the report calls for heightened regulatory scrutiny towards these entities. 3. **Leadership Changes at Pfizer**: Pfizer’s Chief Scientific Officer, Mikael Dolsten, will leave after 15 years with the company. Dolsten’s departure follows Pfizer’s acquisition of Seagen and recent cost-cutting measures spurred by declining COVID-19 product sales. He will remain until a successor is in place, likely by early next year. 4. **Positive Gene Therapy Results from UniQure**: UniQure has shared promising interim data for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy, AMT-130. With an 80% reduction in disease progression among high-dose recipients and significant decreases in neurofilament levels, this breakthrough led to a notable increase in UniQure’s stock value. 5. **Strategic Moves by Kymera and Ligand**: Kymera Therapeutics announced the expansion of Phase 2 studies for its dermatitis treatment, KT-474, boosting their stock by nearly 20%. Concurrently, Ligand Pharmaceuticals has acquired Apeiron Biologics and the royalty rights to the neuroblastoma drug Qarziba in a $100M deal, with potential future royalty-based payments. 6. **Biosecure Act Vote Planned by House Speaker**: House Speaker Mike Johnson has pledged to bring the Biosecure Act to a vote this year. The Act aims to sever financial links between US firms and certain Chinese biotech contractors, including companies like WuXi AppTec and BGI, by 2032. This legislation forms part of broader efforts to address concerns over US-China biotechnology ties. Stay informed for more updates on pivotal changes and developments in the biopharma industry. #pharma #biotech #topstories #biodatastudio