Articles in 2020

Image-based profiling is a strategy to mine the rich information in biological images. Carpenter and colleagues discuss how the application of machine learning is renewing interest in image-based profiling for all aspects of the drug discovery process, from understanding disease mechanisms to predicting a drug’s activity or mechanism of action.

Examining B cell depletion therapy (BCDT), an approved treatment for B cell malignancies, in autoimmune conditions has provided key insights into basic B cell biology. In this Review, Gommerman and colleagues discuss BCDT in autoimmune conditions, highlighting diseases in which BCDT has been clinically effective and the potential and pitfalls for BCDT in autoimmune conditions in which it has not yet been efficacious.

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines approaching the finish line, and dozens of COVID-19 drugs in development, more eyes are on the European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s decisions than ever before. Emer Cooke, who started as Executive Director of the EMA in November, is ready. Cooke, a pharmacist by training, has more than 30 years’ experience in pharmaceutical regulation. During this time, she has seen the system transform: the typewriters and carbon copy are gone, replaced by unprecedented volumes of data and complexity. With prior roles that have included oversight of the regulation of medical products at the World Health Organization, Head of Inspections at the EMA and Head of International Affairs at the EMA, she is prepared for the multidisciplinary nature of the challenges ahead. She spoke with Asher Mullard about the speed of progress with COVID-19 vaccines, the potential longer-term impacts of the pandemic on regulatory affairs and her goals for the EMA once the world returns to business as usual.

Exosomes — small extracellular vesicles that are shed by cells — have long offered promise as drug delivery systems for small molecules, DNA, RNA and other biologic payloads. The first of these are now in the clinic.

A wave of tau-targeted agents is progressing through the clinic, hoping to avoid the negative results from a first-in-class trial of a tau-targeted antibody.

The Notch pathway plays multiple complex roles in cancer, exerting oncogenic or tumour-suppressive actions depending on the context. Here Miele and colleagues provide an overview of current understanding of the functions of Notch in cancer, highlighting key implications for the development of Notch-targeting therapeutics. Agents in clinical development and emerging therapeutic strategies are highlighted.

Advances in nanoparticle design could make substantial contributions to personalized and non-personalized medicine. In this Review, Langer, Mitchell, Peppas and colleagues discuss advances in nanoparticle design that overcome heterogeneous barriers to delivery, as well as the challenges in translating these design improvements into personalized medicine approaches.