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Epigenica Secures $2.2M to Advance High-Throughput Epigenetic Screening Platform

Drug Discovery
  • Stockholm-based Epigenica AB closed a $2.2 million funding round led by Voima Ventures to accelerate commercialization of its EpiFinder epigenetic screening platform.
  • The company's proprietary technology enables simultaneous analysis of multiple epigenetic markers across large sample sets with exceptional resolution and efficiency for drug discovery applications.
  • Funding will support development of flagship products including EpiFinder Global and EpiFinder cNUC kits, service expansion, and entry into the U.S. market.
  • Epigenetics is emerging as a critical layer in multi-omics approaches, providing insights into how lifestyle and environmental factors influence gene activity and disease outcomes.

ProFound Therapeutics Partners with Novartis in $775M Cardiovascular Drug Discovery Deal

Drug Discovery
  • ProFound Therapeutics announced a four-year strategic collaboration with Novartis to discover novel cardiovascular therapeutics using its ProFoundry Platform to mine the expanded human proteome.
  • The partnership includes $25 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments, with potential downstream milestones worth $750 million per selected target plus tiered royalties.
  • The collaboration combines ProFound's capabilities in identifying novel proteins from the expanded proteome with Novartis' cardiovascular drug development expertise to address unmet medical needs.
  • The ProFoundry Platform uses advanced computational tools and biological data to uncover previously unknown proteins as potential drug targets from the expanded human proteome.

Evotec Joins NURTuRE-AKI Consortium to Advance Multi-Omics Research for Acute Kidney Injury Treatment

Precision MedicineDrug Discovery
  • Evotec has joined the NURTuRE-AKI consortium led by Kidney Research UK to establish the world's most comprehensive patient cohort for acute kidney injury research.
  • The longitudinal study will collect multi-omics data from 950 patients across three cohorts, including cardiac surgery patients and those experiencing AKI-to-CKD progression.
  • The initiative aims to identify novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for AKI, a condition affecting millions worldwide with no current preventive or therapeutic treatments available.

Enhanced Genomics Partners with ALBORADA Institute to Accelerate Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Using 3D Multi-Omics Platform

Drug Discovery
  • Enhanced Genomics has formed a strategic partnership with The ALBORADA Drug Discovery Institute at the University of Cambridge to accelerate Alzheimer's disease drug discovery using 3D multi-omics technology.
  • The collaboration has already identified several novel drug targets for Alzheimer's disease through Enhanced's proprietary Promoter Capture Hi-C technology, which maps long-range chromatin interactions and gene regulatory mechanisms.
  • The partnership demonstrates the potential of 3D multi-omics to significantly reduce drug discovery timelines and increase success rates by harnessing the full potential of the non-coding genome.
  • Both organizations are exploring opportunities to expand their collaboration to other neurodegenerative diseases, with Enhanced Genomics open to additional partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

OutSee Secures £1.8M Seed Funding to Advance AI-Powered Genomics Platform for Drug Discovery

AIDrug Discovery
  • Cambridge-based OutSee raised £1.8M in seed funding led by Ahren Innovation Capital to advance its proprietary AI platform Nomaly for predictive genomics drug discovery.
  • The company's Nomaly technology uses hypothesis-free modeling to predict disease and phenotype directly from single genomes, enabling target discovery from smaller datasets previously considered too complex to interpret.
  • OutSee plans to expand its in-house target pipeline focusing on CNS disorders, rare diseases, and metabolic conditions while establishing partnerships with major pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
  • The funding builds on over £500K in Innovate UK grants and partnerships with Genomics England and FinnGen, positioning the company to transform therapeutic target identification.

Bayer Extends 16-Year Research Partnership with Tsinghua University for Three More Years

Drug DiscoveryOncology
  • Bayer and Tsinghua University have extended their strategic research collaboration by three additional years, building on a 16-year partnership that has produced over 70 joint research projects and more than 10 publications in top international journals.
  • The extended agreement focuses on joint research targeting oncology, cardiovascular and renal diseases, neurology, rare diseases, and immunology, reinforcing Bayer's commitment to healthcare innovation in China's rapidly evolving pharmaceutical market.
  • The partnership has established a benchmark for collaboration between multinational pharmaceutical companies and Chinese academic institutions, with Bayer conducting more than 80% of its major multi-center clinical trials in China.
  • Bayer's broader China strategy includes two global R&D centers, four production facilities, and the recent launch of Bayer Co.Lab China, which aims to incubate 10-15 biotech startups focusing on cutting-edge therapeutic innovations.

Axcelead DDP and Superluminal Expand Partnership to Target Challenging Biological Mechanisms

Drug Discovery
  • Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners and Superluminal Medicines announced their intent to collaborate on drug discovery targeting specific molecular mechanisms associated with challenging biological targets.
  • The partnership builds on previous successful collaborations including in vivo pharmacological evaluations and predictive ADME modeling that resulted in shared computational models.
  • The collaboration will combine Axcelead DDP's comprehensive drug discovery platform with Superluminal's AI/ML and structure-based drug design capabilities to accelerate small-molecule therapeutic development.
  • The joint effort aims to address multiple defined molecular targets with high unmet medical needs using integrated computational and experimental approaches.

Penn Researchers Transform Deadly Aspergillus Fungus into Potent Anti-Leukemia Drug

Drug Discovery
  • Penn-led researchers have successfully isolated and modified a new class of ribosomally synthesized peptides (RiPPs) from Aspergillus flavus, a historically toxic fungus, creating promising anti-cancer compounds called asperigimycins.
  • The modified asperigimycins demonstrated comparable efficacy to FDA-approved leukemia drugs cytarabine and daunorubicin in laboratory tests, specifically targeting leukemia cells while sparing other cancer types.
  • The compounds work by disrupting microtubule formation essential for cell division, and researchers identified the SLC46A3 gene as critical for cellular uptake, opening new pathways for cyclic peptide drug development.
  • This breakthrough represents a novel approach to natural product drug discovery, with similar gene clusters identified in other fungi suggesting vast untapped potential for future therapeutics.

XtalPi Secures $100 Million Partnership with Harvard's Gregory Verdine to Advance AI-Driven Drug Discovery

AIDrug Discovery
  • XtalPi has signed a Letter of Intent with DoveTree LLC, founded by Harvard Professor Gregory Verdine, for a collaboration worth $100 million upfront plus potential milestone payments exceeding $10 billion.
  • The partnership will leverage XtalPi's AI and robotics-driven platform to discover small molecule and antibody drug candidates targeting oncology, autoimmune disorders, and neurological diseases.
  • Professor Verdine brings extensive drug development expertise, having co-founded over ten biotechnology companies and spearheaded three FDA-approved therapeutics including romidepsin, paritaprevir, and glecaprevir.
  • DoveTree will obtain exclusive global development and commercialization rights to resulting therapeutics, while XtalPi is eligible for tiered royalties on net product sales.

SandboxAQ Releases 5.2 Million Synthetic Molecules Dataset to Accelerate AI-Driven Drug Discovery

AIDrug Discovery
  • SandboxAQ, an AI startup spun out from Google and backed by Nvidia, has released a dataset of 5.2 million synthetic three-dimensional molecules to accelerate drug discovery processes.
  • The synthetic molecules were generated using Nvidia's chips and are designed to help scientists predict drug-protein binding interactions, a critical step in pharmaceutical development.
  • The publicly available dataset combines traditional scientific computing with AI advancements to train models that can virtually replicate lab experiments and predict molecular binding in a fraction of the time.
  • SandboxAQ plans to commercialize AI models developed with this data, aiming to provide results that rival actual laboratory experiments but through virtual simulation.

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