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Momentum Biotechnologies Acquires OmicScouts to Expand Mass Spectrometry-Based Drug Discovery Platform

Drug Discovery
  • Momentum Biotechnologies has completed the acquisition of Munich-based OmicScouts GmbH, a leader in mass spectrometry-based proteomics, to enhance its drug discovery service offerings.
  • The acquisition provides Momentum with access to well-validated proteomic assays that enable clients to progress from high-throughput screening to cell-based assays and biomarker discovery.
  • OmicScouts' chemoproteomic capabilities will help close the gap between biochemical hit identification and downstream preclinical assays, addressing long-standing client requests.
  • The transaction enables immediate geographic expansion into the European market and strengthens Momentum's position in providing comprehensive mass spectrometry solutions to biopharmaceutical companies.

Regeneron Leads $60 Million Consortium to Accelerate UK Biobank Genome Sequencing for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Drug Discovery

Drug DiscoveryNeurology
• Regeneron has formed a consortium with AbbVie, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, Biogen, and Pfizer, with each company committing $10 million to accelerate sequencing of 500,000 UK Biobank genomes by end of 2019. • The project aims to identify new biological targets for drug development, particularly for neurological diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, where current failure rates exceed 90%. • Regeneron's automated sequencing capabilities through its Genetics Center have dramatically reduced processing time, potentially revolutionizing drug discovery by linking genetic data with health records from 500,000 volunteers. • After an exclusive access period for consortium members, all sequencing data and research findings will be made publicly available to the broader scientific community.

Regeneron to Acquire 23andMe for $310 Million, Gaining Access to Vast Genetic Database

Precision MedicineDrug Discovery
• Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has reached an agreement to acquire 23andMe for approximately $310 million, gaining access to one of the world's largest consumer genetic databases.
• The acquisition comes as 23andMe has struggled financially in recent years, with its stock price declining significantly since going public in 2021 through a SPAC merger.
• This deal represents a strategic move for Regeneron to enhance its drug discovery capabilities by leveraging 23andMe's genetic data from millions of consenting users.

China Dominates AI-Driven Drug Discovery Patent Landscape, Reshaping Pharmaceutical R&D

AIDrug Discovery
  • China has filed over 38,000 generative AI patent applications between 2014-2023, with a significant portion focused on drug discovery and compound screening technologies.
  • The surge in Chinese AI pharmaceutical patents is fueled by government investment, tech giant participation, pharmaceutical market growth, and access to vast healthcare data resources.
  • AI-driven drug discovery systems being patented can analyze chemical compounds, predict properties, and identify drug candidates more efficiently, potentially reducing development timelines and costs.

Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals Raises $28 Million Series A to Advance Non-Degrading Molecular Glue Platform

Drug Discovery
  • Rapafusyn Pharmaceuticals secured $28 million in Series A funding led by 3E Bioventures Capital and Proxima Ventures to advance its RapaGlue™ platform for discovering non-degrading molecular glues.
  • The company's platform can systematically create molecular glues by design to target traditionally challenging or undruggable disease targets, including protein-protein interactions and transcription factors.
  • Founded by Johns Hopkins University's Dr. Jun O. Liu, who pioneered the molecular glue field with his 1991 discovery of FK506 and cyclosporin A mechanisms.
  • The RapaGlue™ technology integrates benefits of molecular glues with cyclic peptides to create cell-permeable drug candidates for previously intractable therapeutic targets.

AI-Driven Drug Discovery Accelerates with New Academic Alliance Targeting Protein Kinases

AIDrug Discovery
  • The Lamarr Institute, b-it, and TüCAD2 have formed a collaborative alliance to accelerate drug discovery using artificial intelligence, focusing specifically on protein kinase inhibitors that could treat cancer, neurological disorders, and autoimmune diseases.
  • The partnership combines AI expertise in data analysis and machine learning from German research institutions with medicinal chemistry capabilities, utilizing the world's largest academic collection of 12,000 protein kinase inhibitors.
  • AI technologies are revolutionizing drug discovery by reducing development timelines from 10-15 years and costs reaching billions of dollars, with applications spanning virtual screening, toxicity prediction, and de novo drug design.
  • The collaboration emphasizes "Explainable AI" to ensure transparency and acceptance in medical applications, addressing the critical need for interpretable machine learning in pharmaceutical research.

Xaira Therapeutics Launches with Record $1 Billion Funding to Revolutionize AI-Driven Drug Discovery

AIDrug Discovery
  • Xaira Therapeutics launched with $1 billion in funding from ARCH Venture Partners and other major investors, marking the largest initial commitment in ARCH's nearly 40-year history.
  • The company aims to leverage generative AI and foundational models from the University of Washington's Institute of Protein Design to create drugs that were previously impossible to develop.
  • Former Stanford president and Genentech CSO Marc Tessier-Lavigne leads the company as CEO, with investors expressing confidence despite his recent resignation from Stanford following research data manipulation allegations at his former lab.
  • The funding reflects growing industry investment in generative AI for drug discovery, with the technology showing potential to optimize every stage of pharmaceutical R&D from target discovery to commercialization.

Amphista Therapeutics Hits Second Milestone in Bristol Myers Squibb Protein Degradation Partnership

Drug Discovery
  • Amphista Therapeutics achieved the first milestone in its second discovery programme with Bristol Myers Squibb, triggering a milestone payment under their strategic collaboration.
  • The achievement follows a previous milestone reached in May 2023 for the first discovery programme, demonstrating consistent progress across both active programmes.
  • The collaboration, valued at up to $1.25 billion in potential milestone payments, focuses on developing small molecule protein degraders using Amphista's EclipsysTM platform.
  • Amphista's targeted protein degradation approach shows potential for CNS penetration, expanding therapeutic applications beyond traditional modalities.

First Fully AI-Generated Drug Enters Phase II Clinical Trials for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

AIDrug DiscoveryRare Disease
  • Insilico Medicine's INS018_055 becomes the first drug with both AI-discovered target and AI-generated design to reach Phase II clinical trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment.
  • The drug development process took just 30 months from target discovery to Phase I trials, approximately half the time of traditional drug discovery methods.
  • IPF affects about 100,000 people in the U.S. and typically leads to death within 2-5 years if untreated, with current treatments only slowing disease progression.
  • The Phase II trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study over 12 weeks in China, with plans to expand to 60 subjects across 40 sites in the U.S. and China.

Lead Pharma and Oxeltis Secure €800K Grant to Develop First-in-Class DLBCL Therapy

OncologyDrug Discovery
  • Lead Pharma and Oxeltis received an €800K EUREKA Eurostars grant to fund their three-year EPIGENEXT project developing a first-in-class small molecule therapy for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
  • DLBCL affects approximately 115,000 people worldwide annually, with 30-50% of patients experiencing relapse after standard R-CHOP treatment and poor long-term survival rates.
  • The collaboration aims to address the significant unmet medical need in DLBCL treatment, where current chemotherapy approaches cause debilitating side effects and fail to cure nearly half of patients.

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