Exscientia | MedPath

Pharma Leadership Shuffle: Key Executive Moves in Early 2025 Reshape Industry Landscape

15 days ago

• The pharmaceutical industry has experienced significant leadership changes in early 2025, with major transitions at companies including Pfizer, Boehringer Ingelheim, and Takeda. • Former FDA CDER Director Patricia Cavazzoni's move to Pfizer as Chief Medical Officer has sparked "revolving door" criticisms, highlighting ongoing concerns about regulatory-industry transitions. • Several biotechnology firms have strengthened their executive teams with specialized expertise in clinical development, particularly in areas like stroke treatment, antibody-drug conjugates, and neuropsychiatric therapies.

Isomorphic Labs Secures $600 Million to Advance AI-Powered Drug Discovery Platform

2 months ago

• Alphabet subsidiary Isomorphic Labs has raised $600 million in its first external funding round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from GV and Alphabet to develop its AI drug design engine. • The company, founded by Google DeepMind CEO Sir Demis Hassabis, leverages breakthrough AI models including AlphaFold 3 to predict molecular structures and interactions for drug discovery across multiple therapeutic areas. • Isomorphic Labs has established partnerships with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novartis, while developing internal programs focused primarily on oncology and immunology treatments.

Charles River and Valo Health Achieve First AI-Driven Lupus Drug Candidate Using Logica Platform

2 months ago

• Charles River Laboratories and Valo Health have identified a promising drug candidate for lupus and other autoimmune diseases using their AI-powered Logica platform, marking a significant milestone in computational drug discovery. • The achievement represents the first successful application of Logica, which integrates Valo's Opal Computational Platform with Charles River's drug discovery expertise to accelerate the translation of biological insights into optimized preclinical assets. • This breakthrough comes amid expanding partnerships, including a recent agreement between Pioneering Medicines (Flagship Pioneering's drug development unit) and Pfizer to discover novel autoimmune disease treatments using the Logica platform.

Google DeepMind Unveils TxGemma: Open AI Models to Accelerate Drug Discovery

2 months ago

• Google has announced TxGemma, a collection of open AI models designed to streamline drug discovery by understanding both text and therapeutic entity structures, set for release through its Health AI Developer Foundations program. • Built on the Gemma model family, TxGemma comes in three sizes (2B, 9B, and 27B parameters) with specialized versions for classification, regression, and generation tasks, outperforming specialized models in 64 of 66 key benchmarks. • The initiative aims to address the high failure rate in drug development, where 90% of candidates don't progress past phase 1 trials, by enhancing prediction capabilities across the research pipeline from target identification to clinical trial outcomes.

Recursion-Exscientia Merger Signals New Era in AI-Driven Drug Discovery

3 months ago

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Exscientia have completed a landmark $700 million merger, marking the largest AI-focused life sciences deal to date and combining complementary capabilities in biological and chemical AI platforms. • The merged entity now boasts 10 programs in development and significant partnerships with pharmaceutical giants Sanofi and Roche, with their most advanced program targeting cerebral cavernous malformation in Phase 2. • Industry experts predict this merger will catalyze more AI-focused acquisitions in pharma, as companies seek to fully integrate artificial intelligence into traditional drug development processes.

DeepMind AlphaFold Veteran Raises $50M to Launch AI-Powered Protein Design Platform

3 months ago

• Latent Labs, founded by former DeepMind AlphaFold team co-lead Dr. Simon Kohl, emerges from stealth with $50M in total funding to develop AI foundation models for programmable biology. • The company's platform enables pharmaceutical partners to computationally design novel therapeutic proteins, including antibodies and enzymes, with enhanced molecular properties for drug development. • The Series A funding round of $40M was co-led by Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, with participation from notable investors including Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean and industry veterans.

Recursion's AI-Discovered Drug Shows Promise in Phase II Brain Disease Trial

4 months ago

• Recursion's lead AI-derived drug candidate REC-994 demonstrated significant efficacy in Phase II trials, with 50% of high-dose patients showing reduced brain lesion volume compared to 28% on placebo. • The trial targeted cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM), a potentially fatal brain condition affecting 360,000 people in the US and EU, for which no approved pharmacological treatments currently exist. • The positive results mark a milestone for AI-driven drug discovery, though experts note these outcomes reflect earlier AI technology rather than current capabilities.

AI Reshaping Drug Discovery: Nobel-Winning AlphaFold Leads Revolution in Pharmaceutical R&D

4 months ago

• DeepMind's AlphaFold team wins 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for breakthrough AI system that accurately predicts protein structures, marking a significant advancement in drug discovery technology. • AI adoption is expanding across pharmaceutical R&D, with applications ranging from target identification to clinical trial optimization, potentially reducing Phase I development costs from $100M to $70M. • Despite promising advances in virtual cell modeling and generative AI, challenges remain in data scarcity and biological complexity, highlighting the need for balanced integration of AI with traditional research methods.

Isomorphic Labs to Launch Clinical Trials for AI-Designed Drugs in 2025

4 months ago

• Isomorphic Labs, a Google DeepMind spinoff, anticipates initiating clinical trials for AI-designed drugs by the end of 2025, potentially revolutionizing drug discovery. • CEO Demis Hassabis aims to drastically reduce the drug discovery timeline from a decade to mere weeks or months using AI-driven approaches. • Isomorphic Labs has established strategic research collaborations with Eli Lilly and Novartis, signaling growing confidence in AI's role in pharmaceutical R&D. • The company's platform leverages DeepMind's AlphaFold AI to model molecular structures and predict interactions, accelerating the identification of promising drug candidates.

Arvinas Advances Vepdegestrant into Phase 3 Trials for Breast Cancer and Updates Pipeline Milestones

4 months ago

• Arvinas plans to initiate two Phase 3 trials in 2025 for vepdegestrant in ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer, one in the first-line setting with atirmociclib and another in the second-line setting with a CDK4/6 inhibitor. • Topline data from the Phase 3 VERITAC-2 monotherapy trial of vepdegestrant in second-line-plus ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer is anticipated in the first quarter of 2025. • Arvinas is set to present initial data from the Phase 1 trial of ARV-393 in B-cell lymphomas and file an IND application for a novel PROTAC KRAS G12D degrader in 2025. • Phase 1 trial with PROTAC LRRK2 degrader ARV-102 in patients with Parkinson’s disease has been initiated, with data expected to be presented in the first half of 2025.

Life Sciences Industry Report Forecasts GLP-1s, AI, and Digital Health to Drive Innovation in 2025

4 months ago

• The pharmaceutical industry enters 2025 amid a technological renaissance, with GLP-1 medications expanding beyond obesity treatment and artificial intelligence accelerating drug development timelines. • EVERSANA's proprietary data analytics reveals shifting landscapes in clinical trials, healthcare provider access, and the development of both small and large molecule therapeutics. • The report highlights emerging opportunities in oncology, rare diseases, and biosimilars, predicting significant advances in treatment accessibility and patient outcomes.

Biopharma Industry Faces Continued Layoffs in 2025 Amid Strategic Realignments

5 months ago

• Biopharma companies continue to announce layoffs in 2025, driven by strategic realignments, pipeline reprioritizations, and challenging financial conditions. • Several companies, including Intellia Therapeutics and IGM Biosciences, are cutting a significant portion of their workforce to focus on key programs and extend cash runways. • These workforce reductions are often accompanied by discontinuation of certain drug development programs and a shift in strategic focus towards core assets. • The layoffs reflect a broader trend in the industry as companies adapt to evolving market dynamics and prioritize efficiency and long-term sustainability.

AI-Designed Drug for Alzheimer's Psychosis Enters Clinical Trials

5 months ago

• Exscientia and Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma's AI-designed drug, DSP-0038, has entered Phase 1 trials for Alzheimer's disease psychosis. • DSP-0038 selectively targets serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT1A receptors, potentially reducing side effects compared to traditional antipsychotics. • Exscientia's AI platform, Centaur Chemist, accelerates drug discovery by efficiently identifying promising molecules for testing. • This marks Exscientia's third AI-derived compound to reach clinical trials, highlighting the potential of AI in pharmaceutical R&D.

Global Biotechnology Market Projected to Reach USD 3.54 Trillion by 2033, Driven by Therapeutic Innovations

6 months ago

• The global biotechnology market is expected to grow from USD 1.68 trillion in 2024 to USD 3.54 trillion by 2033, representing a CAGR of 9.18%, according to Cervicorn Consulting. • Red biotechnology, focused on medical applications, is projected to reach USD 649.31 billion by 2033, with monoclonal antibodies dominating the product segment. • North America leads the global biotechnology market with the highest market share, while Asia Pacific is experiencing the fastest growth due to increasing investments and government support.

AI Poised to Transform Pharmaceutical Industry with $208 Billion Investment by 2030

7 months ago

• The pharmaceutical sector is projected to invest over $208 billion in AI technologies by 2030, marking a significant shift in drug development and clinical research processes. • Integration of AI with wearable technologies, electronic health records, and medical devices is enabling real-time patient monitoring and more efficient clinical trials. • Despite rapid AI adoption in healthcare, nearly 50% of pharmaceutical executives report a shortage of skilled AI professionals, highlighting critical workforce development needs.

DeepMind Launches Isomorphic Labs to Transform Drug Discovery Through AI Innovation

4 years ago

• Alphabet's DeepMind has established Isomorphic Labs, a standalone AI-driven drug discovery company that will leverage the breakthrough AlphaFold protein structure prediction technology. • The new venture will be led by DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and aims to revolutionize drug discovery by implementing an AI-first approach while building partnerships with pharmaceutical companies. • Isomorphic Labs will utilize DeepMind's AlphaFold2 database, which has successfully mapped nearly all human proteins and achieved sufficient precision for drug design in one-third of its protein models.

GSK Partners with Exscientia in £33M AI-Driven Drug Discovery Alliance

8 years ago

• GlaxoSmithKline has formed a strategic alliance with UK-based Exscientia to leverage artificial intelligence for accelerating drug discovery across 10 disease areas, with potential milestone payments of £33 million. • Exscientia's AI platform has demonstrated ability to deliver candidate molecules in one-quarter of the traditional time and cost, promising significant efficiency gains in early-stage drug development. • The collaboration builds on Exscientia's growing portfolio of partnerships, including recent €250M Sanofi deal, positioning the company as a leading AI-driven drug discovery innovator.