XtalPi Inc., a company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in pharmaceutical technology, is set to collaborate with Eli Lilly and Company on a project in the AI drug discovery domain. With a deal potentially amounting to $250 million, the companies will combine their resources to design new drug candidates for a target that has yet to be publicly announced.

As we continue to make progress in oncology therapeutics, researchers are constantly seeking ways to improve patient outcomes by understanding the complexities of the tumor microenvironment (TME). In response to this demand, PathAI, an innovator in AI-powered pathology, has announced the launch of PathExplore™, an innovative solution that could potentially propel a new era of precision medicine.

Researchers from MIT and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have developed a new type of lipid nanoparticle designed to deliver messenger RNA (mRNA) to the lungs. This innovative approach could potentially provide an inhalable treatment for cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases.

In a strategic move to improve the drug development process, Altasciences has partnered with Proscia, a leading provider of digital and computational pathology solutions. The collaboration leverages Proscia's Concentriq® for Research platform to streamline preclinical development decisions and bring life-saving therapeutics to patients faster.

The world of clinical trials is undergoing a paradigm shift as the rise of decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) revolutionizes the way researchers conduct studies. With innovative technologies and novel approaches to trial management, a new breed of trailblazers is paving the way for the future of clinical research. In this blog article, we'll explore eight companies making waves in the DCT landscape, showcasing the remarkable progress they've made in recent years. From blockchain-powered data management to AI-driven patient recruitment, these cutting-edge organizations are breaking down traditional barriers and empowering patients to participate in trials with greater ease, flexibility, and convenience.

The space is dominated by large contract research players, like IQVIA, In this post, we will review eight relatively young companies enabling decentralized clinical trials. 

In November, MGI Tech Co, a Shenzhen-based biotechnology company, an affiliated company of BGI Group, committed to building core tools and technology for genome sequencing, opened a Customer Experience Center (CEC) in London, expanding its presence on the European continent. This came after the first CEC opened its doors in Riga, Latvia in late October, joining a roster of existing MGI’s demo labs in Australia and Japan. The new London-based site provides local customers and partners with first-hand experiences with MGI’s advanced instruments and reflects the company’s commitment to the European market.

Despite the economic situation and political climate in 2022, such fields as drug discovery and biotech keep evolving and bringing vital solutions to challenges of the time drawing the attention of venture capitalists (VCs). In this piece let's focus specifically on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biotech and drug discovery companies which managed to attract investors and raise notable rounds in 2022.

Recent news by Business Insider point to Amazon’s ambition to expand its focus into Life Sciences and drug discovery, leveraging its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, cloud infrastructures, and other “high-tech” assets. As per data obtained by Business Insider from an internal AI conference, Amazon executives discuss using machine learning to revolutionize drug discovery, genomics, clinical trials, and more.

It is impossible to deny the increasing impact that “big tech” giants, like Google, Microsoft, Tencent, and others, have on the Life Sciences industry. All of us have heard of DeepMind’s success in solving protein structures with AlphaFold, and this technology developed by Alphabet’s subsidiary has become a game changer for the pharmaceutical industry, at least conceptually -- illustrating what is possible and where the application of high-tech to fundamental biology problems, may lead us at some point.

And just days ago, Meta (formerly Facebook) did just that -- researchers from this California-based social media giant have used AI to predict the structures of some 600 million proteins from bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that haven’t been characterized. They used a ‘large language model,’ a type of AI that can predict text from just a few letters or words.

So, what attracts technological giants into the Life Sciences market?

While Spain's biotechnology research centers, including the University of Barcelona and Pompeu Fabra University, retain their positions in world rankings, the country's biopharma enterprises are yet to prove leadership in the field. President of the Spanish association of bioenterprises ASEBIO explained in the interview with Pharmaboardroom that, in his opinion, the country lacks “the ability to transform the science we generate into the industry and economic value; it is a chronic challenge that has faced us for 50 years, but, luckily, we are making progress.”

In recent years, several biotech companies emerged in Spain, bringing unique technologies to the market, from virtual reality to artificial intelligence. Below are five companies we picked up to illustrate what is happening in Spain’s biopharmaceutical tech scene.

Israel's biotech sector has been considered secondary to its thriving Medtech field for decades. Still, the turn of millennia brought a significant shift to the biotech landscape in the country.

Part of the growth originates from Israel’s focus on building a solid education with roughly 6% of GDP being spent on this sector. Israeli biotech field caught the attention of pharma giants and other corporations, such as Pfizer, GE, Johnson & Johnson, and more, to build R&D centers and startup incubators in the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel was among the fastest to vaccinate its population due to data-sharing deals between the Israeli government and Pfizer.