Volume 16 Issue 2, June 2022

Focusing on accelerated discovery, IBM Research is leveraging next-generation computing technologies—artificial intelligence, the hybrid cloud, and quantum computing—to streamline and optimize research in the healthcare and life sciences.

Scailyte’s artificial intelligence-powered platform, ScaiVision, identifies disease signatures that predict drug efficacy and describe drug mode of action to improve clinical outcomes for patients with complex diseases.

Compugen is driving the discovery and development of cancer immunotherapy drugs using its proprietary computational solutions, advanced new omics technologies and integration of computational discovery, wet-lab R&D experimentation and clinical trials.

Metabolic syndrome-derived medical conditions affect billions and costs trillions. MultiOmic Health will combine artificial intelligence and wet lab experimentation with the proprietary multi-omic data it is accumulating to create new precision medicines for these conditions.

SimBioSys is combining state-of-the-art biophysical modeling and artificial intelligence to improve precision cancer care.

Nabla Bio combines innovative artificial intelligence with proprietary wet-lab biology to design, refine and optimize next-generation therapeutic antibodies.

Designed to reshape drug discovery and drug repositioning, systems biology company DeepLife has created a data-driven technology platform that creates digital twins of human cells, to evaluate response to new drug candidates.

Sumitovant Biopharma’s DrugOME platform uses novel technologies to accelerate drug development and address unmet medical needs.

With a drug discovery platform built around patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells and multi-omics, PurMinds NeuroPharma is de-risking the path to targeted brain therapeutics.

Precision medicine company Saphetor has built the world’s largest community and knowledge base for human genome variant identification, annotation, and interpretation. Through its open access platform and its clinical and application programming interface (API)-powered bespoke implementations, Saphetor helps researchers and clinicians accelerate understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of genetic conditions.

Vyasa has developed deep-learning artificial intelligence solutions for organizations looking to solve the complex data challenges associated with healthcare and the life sciences, from improving scientific research and accelerating drug discovery and development, to enhancing care pathways.

BIOS Health uses artificial intelligence (AI)-powered neural interfaces to understand the basis of chronic diseases and accelerate the development of treatments.

Exogene is using artificial intelligence to find rare, natural T cell receptors with a view to treating solid tumors and, ultimately, rejuvenating the immune system.

Pepticom designs ab initio novel peptide drug candidates using proprietary AI-driven biocomputational software.

Medical AI Inc.’s technology will provide fast, accurate diagnosis of cardiac problems, kidney failure, sepsis and anemia using hospital or home electrocardiogram devices.

With its unique PHARMA.AI platform, Insilico Medicine is transforming the world of drug discovery and development.

The biotech company’s federated platform has enabled it to accumulate some high-profile pharma and drug discovery partnerships in its five-year history.

Individualized cancer therapies represent the next step for cancer immunotherapy. NEC Corporation has developed cutting-edge artificial intelligence to predict patient-specific neoantigens to turn this promise into reality and extend the approach to infectious diseases.

BenchSci is on a mission to increase the speed and quality of life-saving research by empowering scientists with the world’s most advanced biomedical artificial intelligence (AI).

InterAx Biotech has developed a specialist drug discovery approach that combines artificial intelligence, integrated mathematical models and cell biology experiments to enable the early identification of safe and effective candidates.

Nucleai’s innovative biomarker platform analyzes and interprets pathology data in both research and clinical settings to enhance diagnostics and improve patient treatment outcomes.

Dompé’s Exscalate supercomputing platform is designed to accelerate drug development and is deploying an open innovation approach collaborating with top tier academic institutions, industry players and startups.

InterVenn is pioneering artificial intelligence-driven glycoproteomic analysis for novel biomarker identification to generate highly accurate diagnostics to guide targeted therapies and to fuel drug discovery and development.

The promise of targeted protein degradation to drug ‘undruggable’ proteins is driving a surge of venture funding and partnerships around this novel therapeutic modality.

A focused research program to understand HDAC6 biology has opened opportunities to treat patients with unmet medical needs.

Partnering with like-minded, focused innovators provides AstraZeneca with access to cutting-edge science and opportunities in oncology, with recent deals and an evolving partnering strategy driving its industry-leading marketed oncology portfolio.

By coupling Twist Bioscience’s DNA-writing technology with expertise in antibody engineering, Twist Biopharma is helping companies accelerate the development of new biologics.

The emergence of COVID-19 sparked a huge increase in the volume of infectious disease deals in 2020, but how has the market fared in the past year?

COVID-19 reinforced the value of infectious disease vaccines and medicines. GSK works to realise that value by putting research and development at the heart of innovation, harnessing immune science, human genetics, and advanced technologies to deliver new and specialty products.

Orthogon Therapeutics is developing first-in-class anti-infective small molecule drugs using biophysics- and structure-based drug design to optimize compounds that target difficult-to-drug proteins. The company’s initial focus is on treating BK and JC polyomavirus infections in transplant patients.

Building on its history of successful collaborations, the global business unit at Sanofi responsible for vaccines is seeking partners with a common drive for excellence and pursuit of innovation.

Chimeron Bio aims to transform RNA therapy with its novel nanoparticle technology by developing new vaccines and therapies based on self-amplifying RNA for the treatment of infectious diseases, oncology and rare genetic disorders.

A pipeline of drug candidates includes two lead products that show promise in oncology and fibrosis applications.

Membrane lipids have long been neglected as therapeutic targets, but Laurent Pharmaceuticals is breaking new ground with LAU-7b, a first-in-class membrane-lipid modulator for the treatment of coronavirus infection.

HOOKIPA Pharma is developing a new class of arenavirus-based immunotherapies that activate and amplify targeted T cells to fight cancer. The company is seeking development and commercialization partners for several of its preclinical and clinical programs.

With siRNA-based drugs becoming established as a therapeutic modality, large companies are engaging in the field through deals and acquisitions, and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases are among their targets.

EraCal Therapeutics is developing a novel oral-active anti-obesity drug, Era-379, identified using the company’s state-of-the-art, zebrafish-based platform technology. EraCal is raising a series A to generate human proof-of-concept data for Era-379 and expanding its portfolio through co-development partnerships.

Amyl Therapeutics is developing a novel treatment for clearing misfolded proteins that aggregate into fibrils to form amyloid plaques that bind to organs, causing neurodegenerative diseases and other systemic conditions.

Glyscend Therapeutics is developing first-in-class polymer drugs that uniquely interact with the gut wall to treat metabolic and chronic conditions. The company’s lead candidate, GLY-200, is advancing into phase 2 clinical studies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.