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PhoreMost Unveils GlueSEEKER Platform to Accelerate Rational Molecular Glue Drug Discovery

Drug Discovery
  • PhoreMost published validation data for its GlueSEEKER platform, a high-throughput technology designed to systematically engineer molecular glue degraders rather than relying on traditional serendipitous discovery methods.
  • The platform integrates high-throughput biological data with computational drug discovery tools to provide blueprints for small molecule development across a wide range of E3 ligases and therapeutic areas including oncology and inflammation.
  • FDA-approved molecular glues have already treated millions of patients and generated billions in revenue, positioning GlueSEEKER to potentially expand this therapeutic modality through rational design approaches.
  • The study includes an end-to-end case study demonstrating the platform's capabilities and validates its potential to accelerate drug development programs while expanding the druggable proteome.

CorestemChemon Partners with ATG Lifetech to Advance Organoid-Based Preclinical Testing

Drug Discovery
  • CorestemChemon, a GLP-certified preclinical CRO from South Korea, has formed a strategic partnership with ATG Lifetech to deliver transcriptomics-powered, organoid-based preclinical testing services globally.
  • The collaboration will develop disease-relevant organoid models for liver, heart, and blood-brain barrier applications, offering up to 5x greater predictive accuracy compared to conventional 2D cell cultures.
  • The partnership aims to provide high-throughput transcriptomics analytics for tumorigenicity studies and regulatory-aligned expertise for FDA/EMA pathways across the US, Europe, and Asia.
  • Revenue-generating service offerings are expected to begin by late 2025, with joint research outputs to be showcased at a major toxicology conference in Q4 2025.

Champions Oncology Appoints Rob Brainin as New CEO to Drive Data Platform Expansion

Leadership ChangeDrug Discovery
  • Champions Oncology has appointed Rob Brainin as Chief Executive Officer effective August 25, 2025, succeeding Dr. Ronnie Morris who will transition to Executive Chair.
  • Brainin brings over 25 years of life sciences experience, most recently serving as Chief Business Officer at Veracyte and previously as CEO of Genuity Science.
  • The leadership change positions Champions to expand beyond core CRO services into robust data offerings and advance its discovery therapeutics subsidiary, Corellia AI.
  • Dr. Morris, who led the company since 2017, will remain actively involved in strategic initiatives while supporting the leadership transition.

10x Genomics Partners with Singapore Institute to Launch AI-Driven Cancer Drug Discovery Study

AIDrug DiscoveryPrecision Medicine
  • 10x Genomics and A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore announced the TISHUMAP project, an ambitious collaboration to analyze up to 2,500 clinical tissue samples using AI and spatial biology technology.
  • The study will focus on gastric, liver, and colorectal cancers, utilizing 10x Genomics' Xenium platform to visualize gene activity within individual cells in intact tissues.
  • The collaboration aims to accelerate drug target discovery and enable precision medicine by identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cancer and inflammatory diseases.
  • Advanced AI will be combined with spatial omics data to detect critical patterns across large datasets, potentially leading to new diagnostics and personalized treatment plans.

£17.9 Million Wellcome Grant Funds Major Initiative to Combat Deadly Fungal Infections

Drug Discovery
  • A collaborative team from University of Dundee, GSK, and University of Exeter has received £17.9 million from Wellcome to develop new antifungal treatments over five years.
  • The project targets Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes meningitis and kills approximately 180,000 HIV patients annually, and Candida auris, a climate change-linked pathogen with over 40% fatality rates.
  • The initiative aims to generate two pre-clinical drug candidates for cryptococcal meningitis with broad-spectrum potential, addressing critical gaps in antifungal drug development.
  • Fungal infections cause around 2.5 million deaths worldwide annually, yet the drug development pipeline remains severely limited with increasing resistance and poor diagnostics.

Elix and LINC Launch World's First Commercial AI Drug Discovery Platform Using Federated Learning from 16 Pharmaceutical Companies

AIDrug Discovery
  • Elix and LINC have commercialized the world's first AI drug discovery platform incorporating federated learning models trained on data from 16 pharmaceutical companies, addressing the critical data scarcity challenge in AI drug discovery.
  • The platform leverages over 1 million compounds and 10 million data points through the kMoL federated learning library, enabling collaborative AI model development while preserving confidential pharmaceutical data.
  • The initiative emerged from Japan's AMED DAIIA project and includes AI models for on/off-target prediction, ADMET prediction, and molecular generation, with several pharmaceutical companies already adopting the Elix Discovery™ platform.
  • The commercialization represents a significant milestone in pharmaceutical AI, positioning the platform to become the de-facto standard for AI drug discovery in Japan while contributing to enhanced drug development capabilities globally.

Biophytis Partners with Lynx Analytics to Accelerate AI-Driven Drug Discovery for Sarcopenia

AIDrug Discovery
  • Biophytis SA has announced a strategic partnership with Lynx Analytics to leverage artificial intelligence for accelerating small molecule drug discovery targeting sarcopenia, a condition with no FDA-approved treatments.
  • The collaboration will combine Biophytis' expertise in age-related disease biology with Lynx's advanced AI platforms to identify and optimize compounds for muscle preservation and regeneration.
  • The partnership aims to significantly reduce development time and costs while building a robust pipeline of drug candidates to restore muscle function for sarcopenia patients.

Indiana University Receives $11.3 Million NIH Grant to Advance SHIP1 Inhibitor for Alzheimer's Disease

Drug Discovery
  • Indiana University School of Medicine researchers received a five-year, $11.3 million NIH grant to develop SHIP1 inhibitors targeting the INPP5D gene, which acts as a brake on microglia function in Alzheimer's disease.
  • The TREAT-AD drug discovery center has narrowed down hundreds of potential drug targets to five promising candidates, with SHIP1/INPP5D leading as the most advanced therapeutic target.
  • Researchers aim to optimize small molecules that block SHIP1 protein, potentially making microglia more effective at clearing harmful amyloid plaques in the brain.
  • The team will test inhibitors in Alzheimer's mouse models and develop biomarkers to track drug activity and effectiveness for future clinical trials in humans.

Variational AI Partners with Merck in $349 Million AI Drug Discovery Collaboration

AIDrug Discovery
  • Variational AI has entered a collaboration with Merck to apply its Enki™ generative AI platform to discover and develop novel small molecule therapeutics against two undisclosed targets.
  • The agreement includes an upfront payment to Variational AI with potential milestone payments totaling up to $349 million, while Merck retains exclusive rights to develop and commercialize resulting compounds.
  • The collaboration will utilize a fine-tuned version of Enki™ trained on Merck's proprietary datasets to generate and optimize small molecule candidates with improved probability of success.
  • This partnership represents Merck's strategic effort to harness AI technology to improve efficiency, speed, and quality of drug candidates earlier in the discovery process.

Wockhardt Exits US Generics Business to Focus on Novel Antibiotic Drug Discovery

Drug Discovery
  • Wockhardt Ltd has filed for voluntary liquidation of its US subsidiaries Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Wockhardt USA LLC under Chapter 7 of the US Bankruptcy Code to exit its loss-making generics business.
  • The company's US generics business incurred nearly $8 million in losses in FY25 and has been unprofitable for several years, prompting the strategic exit.
  • Wockhardt is pivoting to focus on its novel antibiotic drug discovery program, with six candidates in development targeting drug-resistant bacterial infections.
  • The company's lead antibiotic candidate Zaynich has completed global phase 3 trials and has an addressable market potential of $7 billion in the US and Europe.

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