I: TechBio Weekly News
Latest Trends: Oxford Drug Design Ltd, ClearView Healthcare Partners LLC & Epistemic AI, TetraScience Inc, Predictive Oncology Inc, Rubedo Life Sciences Inc and Caris Life Sciences Inc
✴️ I: TechBio Weekly News
Latest Trends: Oxford Drug Design Limited, ClearView Healthcare Partners LLC and Epistemic AI, TetraScience Inc, Predictive Oncology Inc, Rubedo Life Sciences Inc and Caris Life Sciences Inc
“There’s no better guarantee of failure than convincing yourself that success is impossible, and therefore never even trying.”
By Max Tegmark, Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality
I: TechBio Weekly News
💈 Oxford Drug Design Limited
On January 15, 2025, Oxford Drug Design announced further in vivo validation for its first-in-class cancer treatment approach. The company is developing novel treatments using its pioneering AI platform for oncology and other major diseases with unmet needs. More specifically, a recent in vivo mouse colorectal cancer model study showed a 60% life extension, indicating clear efficacy and dose response, while maintaining an acceptable safety profile (Oxford Drug Design achieves in vivo validation for novel cancer treatment). These positive results have led to an expanded mouse study, currently showing further progress.
Oxford Drug Design, is an advanced spinout from Oxford University, an innovative biotechnology company discovering and developing novel therapeutics supported by pioneering computational methods. Based on the unique integration of their dual core competences in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase enzymes and distinctive AI/ML methods (SynthAI), their pipeline expansion is focused on oncology. SynthAI employs a proprietary generative approach, utilizing deep reinforcement learning integrated with their proprietary databases to generate only molecules with the desired activity that can be made economically.
On September 20, 2024, Dr Alan D. Roth, CEO of Oxford Drug Design, explained how his company has completed the first in vivo validation in its potential first-in-class approach against multiple tumors (Initial in vivo validation of novel cancer therapeutics using AI). In particular, a 28-day mouse trial showed clear efficacy as well as dose response. The trial was a standard mouse xenograft with MCF7 breast cancer cells inserted into the fat pad. They tested the current lead compound and the results demonstrated clear efficacy with significant tumor regression. They also showed a well-defined dose response across the full range of their drug at 0-30 mg/kg.
On September 26, 2024, Oxford drug design secured funding to combat cystic fibrosis lung infections. In particular, Oxford Drug Design has been awarded a share of a £3M Collaborative Discovery Programme by the Cystic Fibrosis Antimicrobial Resistance Syndicate, to accelerate the development of new treatments for lung infections in people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The programme will support six early-stage antimicrobial projects over the next two years and Oxford Drug Design received £466,000 to develop new therapies for bacterial infections in CF patients.
💡 IPA 💡
On January 17, 2025, ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd (NASDAQ: IPA) announced the launch of its AI-powered pipeline of both optimized and new therapeutics, a system set to transform therapeutic development (ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Realigns Pipeline Strategy, Empowering Drug Discovery with AI and First-Principles Innovation). By combining advanced AI with first-principles thinking, the BioStrand pipeline reimagines drug discovery, offering unmatched speed, precision, and transparency.
💈 ClearView Healthcare Partners LLC and Epistemic AI
ClearView Healthcare Partners, the leading life sciences strategic consultancy supporting pharma and biotech globally, announced a strategic $4,000,000 minority investment in Epistemic AI (Epistemic AI Inc), a pioneer in enterprise-grade AI solutions for life sciences and biomedical research (with a group of senior scientists and engineers from the likes of Google, New York University and Stanford). The investment will accelerate the development of EpistemicGPT, Epistemic AI's innovative knowledge discovery platform (ClearView Announces Minority Investment in Epistemic AI to Enhance Drug Discovery).
Epistemic’s AI platform is a novel tool for exploring complex biomedical knowledge. It relates billions of interconnected entities which illuminate the processes of discovery and intelligence gathering, and deliver actionable results. Biomedicine is composed of information and data that describe billions of individual entities, such as diseases, genes, chemicals, publications, trials, etc. In Epistemic’s platform, these are housed in a type of database known as a knowledge graph and their AI Research Assistant permits exploration of the knowledge graph, allowing users to create individual Knowledge Maps that reflect the relevant entities and relationships specific to a set of initial queries.
Their Drug Map connects drugs and chemicals to targets and indications through the lens of bioavailability, trials, SARs and PG effects. They provide detailed data on interactions that make it a highly efficient tool for in silico analysis, including: Target identification, Drug repurposing, PK/PD modelling and Drug safety & efficacy. Their Trials Map extrapolates outcome, endpoint and safety data from global clinical trials for competitive risk assessments, as well as numerous tools that measure complex interactions, enabling pipeline, biomarker and cross-therapy mapping, and can be used for: Outcome measurements, Recruitment rates, Adverse events and Treatment analysis. Finally, the Omics Analysis tool can identify pathways that are enriched by and overlap with one or more genes, and provides analysis and statistics across multiple databases, and is species-specific. The added ability to connect gene variants (SNVs, Indels, Deletions, CNAs) with known cancer biomarkers, allows for: Gene enrichment analysis, Pathway identification, Variant analysis and Clinical interpretation.
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💈 TetraScience Inc
On January 16, 2025, TetraScience announced a key new collaboration with Microsoft in order to accelerate the adoption of scientific AI to radically improve workflows across the entire biopharmaceutical value chain: drug discovery, development, manufacturing and quality control (TetraScience Collaborates with Microsoft To Advance Scientific AI at Scale). The collaboration will combine the power of Microsoft’s secure Azure platform with the Tetra Scientific Data and AI Cloud™ to empower scientific organizations with the ability to extract scientific insights from complex experimental data at an enterprise scale.
TetraScience (TetraScience Inc, a Scientific Data Cloud company in the US) liberates, unifies and transforms your raw data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data. TetraScience brings this AI-native data to life in a rapidly growing suite of next-generation lab data management solutions, scientific use cases and AI-based scientific outcomes. The company was designed from the ground up, technically and commercially, to enable Scientific AI. It combines unparalleled expertise in science, modern data stacks and AI to harness the value of scientific data. Its vendor-agnostic data stack and data-only business model prevents proprietary walled gardens and vendor lock-in, future-proofing customer data.
TetraScience, Terray, Benchling, Dotmatics and Cadence Molecular Sciences (OpenEye), are all using NIM Agent Blueprints by NVIDIA in their computer-aided drug discovery platforms. NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) released on August 27, 2024 the NIM Agent Blueprint for generative AI-based virtual screening (Better Molecules, Faster: NVIDIA NIM Agent Blueprint Redefines Hit Identification With Generative AI-Based Virtual Screening), that identifies and improves virtual hits in a smarter and more efficient way and has at its core three essential AI models: AlphaFold2, MolMIM (a novel model developed by NVIDIA that generates molecules while simultaneously optimizing for multiple properties, such as high solubility and low toxicity) and DiffDock (an advanced tool for quickly modeling the binding of small molecules to their protein targets). These three models work in concert to improve the hit-to-lead process, making it more efficient and faster. On November 12, 2024,TetraScience Collaborated with NVIDIA to Industrialize the Production of Scientific AI Use Cases.
In addition, on December 12, 2024 TetraScience and Snowflake Partnered to Accelerate Scientific AI Adoption Across Global Life Sciences. On November 19, 2024, TetraScience Launched First Universal Chromatography Dashboard for Enterprise-Scale Analytics in Life Sciences. On May 20, 2024 TetraScience and Databricks Joined Forces To Transform Scientific Research, Development, Manufacturing and Quality Control in Life Sciences. On April 30, 2024, TetraScience and BD Collaborated to Facilitate Cloud-Based Single-Cell Analysis. On April 16, 2024, TetraScience Partnered with Google Cloud to Catalyze Scientific AI Innovation. On February 6, 2024, Bayer AG entered into agreement with TetraScience to ignite innovation by maximizing the value of its scientific data.
Servier and Google Cloud
💈 Predictive Oncology Inc
Predictive Oncology Inc (NASDAQ: POAI) announced on January 16, 2025 that plans to launch its validated flagship live cell ChemoFx® drug response assay in Europe and expanded availability in the United States. The ChemoFx® treatment selection marker and tumor profiling assay will initially focus on ovarian and other gynecological cancers and may include testing of other major tumor types of interest over time (Predictive Oncology Announces Planned European Launch of its ChemoFx® Treatment Selection Marker and Tumor Profiling Assay).
Predictive Oncology is changing the game in drug discovery with its PEDAL platform pairing AI with a vast biobank of tumor samples (150K+ tumor samples). At Predictive they make groundbreaking drug-response predictions, from 3D tumor models—compatible with multiple cell types, drug classes, including small molecules, antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, immunomodulatory agents, CAR-T cells, etc and downstream analysis methods—to advanced formulation services such as an automated High Throughput Self-Interaction Chromatography, HSC™, Platform that conducts high-throughput, self-interaction chromatography screens on FDA-approved excipients for protein formulations.
In March 2023, Predictive Oncology and Cancer Research Horizons—a part of Cancer Research UK (CRUK)—announced a collaboration to drive cancer drug development using the PEDAL platform. So far, Predictive Oncology has acquired several companies that had promising IPs.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, Predictive Oncology Announced Agreement to be Acquired by Renovaro Biosciences on January 06, 2025, in exchange for preferred stock of Renovaro. Predictive and Renovaro share an unwavering commitment to improving outcomes of cancer patients through earlier diagnosis, biomarker discovery and targeted therapies. Further, the companies have proprietary AI/ML platforms with complementary technical advantages that will be leveraged together to accelerate drug discovery and reduce the risk of drug development. Los Angeles-based Renovaro Inc (NASDAQ: RENB) accelerates precision and personalized medicine for longevity by mutually reinforcing AI and biotechnology platforms for early diagnosis, better-targeted treatments and drug discovery. Renovaro includes RenovaroBio, with its advanced cell-gene immunotherapy company, and RenovaroCube.
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💈 Rubedo Life Sciences Inc
Rubedo Life Sciences announced on January 16, 2025 its clinical development plans for its lead candidate RLS-1496 at the 12th Annual Dermatology Summit. RLS-1496 is a first-in-class GPX4 modulator that targets aging cells and surrounding tissues (Rubedo Life Sciences Announces Clinical Development Plans for Lead Candidate RLS-1496, a First-in-Class GPX4 Modulator Targeting Aging Cells and Surrounding Tissues). The Phase 1 clinical trial for RLS-1496 (a first-in-class treatment for inflammatory skin disease), will begin in Spring 2025 in the Netherlands and the kickoff of the company’s Series B financing round. On April 19, 2024, Rubedo brought in $40M in a series A financing round co-led by Khosla Ventures and Ahren Innovation Capital.
Ahead of the company’s first-in-human Phase 1 study for RLS-1496, Rubedo Life Sciences announced on October 23, 2024 the opening of their European headquarters and clinical operations in Milan, Italy. This will be the company’s first clinical trial and operations beyond its world headquarters in California, an acknowledgment of the global impact the diseases of aging have in patients’ lives.
Rubedo Life Sciences has the proprietary ALEMBIC™ AI-driven drug discovery platform that is based on a synergy between sophisticated computational algorithms and chemistry. Rubedo’s differentiated technology is a therapeutic agnostic platform aimed at addressing a wide variety of diseases beyond senescence and aging.
The use of single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) and spatial multi-omics is an important differentiator because it provides the resolution to target specific cell types and changes within these cells. In contrast, other methodologies only identify trends across tissue samples. Furthermore, multi-omics technologies at single cell resolution allow for superior and highly specific target identification. Through leveraging a combination of their proprietary AI driven Platform (Alembic) and Chemistry (SenTech), Rubedo is able to develop novel compounds that specifically bind to the diseased cells allowing for increased efficacy and fewer unintended side effects rendering safer therapeutics.
The Alembic platform identifies novel druggable targets by leveraging (scRNAseq) and other omics data to identify the pathologic senescent cells unique to specific cell populations that emerge with diseases of aging. SenTech is a proprietary medicinal chemistry process that engineers small molecules with superior safety and selectivity properties over existing drugs. SenTech’s targeting ability is achieved through drug design (including pro-drugs) which combines specific molecular targets with unique metabolic functions.
Apart the RLS-1496 program (for Chronic AD, Chronic Psoriasis, Systemic Sclerosis, Scleroderma), Rubedo is currently working on four more programs: Pulmonary (IPF), Liver (NASH), Neuro Musculoskeletal (Sarcopenia) and Oncology (NSCLC).
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💈 Caris Life Sciences Inc
On January 16, 2025, Caris Life Sciences announced a strategic and multi-faceted collaboration with Ontada, a business dedicated to oncology real-world evidence, clinical education and point of care technologies (from more than 2 million records), to advance molecular research and cancer care, enhance the healthcare delivery system and ultimately drive precision medicine by supporting life sciences companies in the development of next-gen oncology therapies (Caris Life Sciences Announces a Strategic Collaboration with Ontada® to Advance Oncology Research and the Adoption of Precision Medicine).
Caris Life Science is a leading next-generation TechBio company and a precision medicine company that through whole-exome DNA sequencing (WES), whole-transcriptome RNA sequencing (WTS) and the application of advanced AI and ML algorithms, has created the large-scale, clinico-genomic database and computing capability needed to analyze and unravel the molecular complexity of disease. Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Caris has offices in Phoenix, New York, Tokyo, Japan and Basel, Switzerland. Caris or its distributor partners provide services in the U.S., Europe, Asia and other international markets.
On April 04, 2024, Caris Discovery™, the therapeutic research arm of Caris Life Sciences, announced a multi-year strategic partnership with Merck KGaA, which operates its healthcare business as EMD Serono in the U.S. and Canada, to accelerate the discovery and development of first-in-class antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) for cancer patients (Caris Life Sciences Announces Partnership with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany to Discover Novel Cancer Targets and Accelerate First-In-Class Antibody Drug Conjugate Development). On November 6, 2024, Caris Life Sciences announced that the FDA has approved their MI Cancer Seek™ for use as a companion diagnostic (CDx) to identify cancer patients who may benefit from treatment with targeted therapies (Caris Life Sciences Receives FDA Approval for MI Cancer Seek™ as a Companion Diagnostic (CDx) Test). MI Cancer Seek is the first and only simultaneous Whole Exome Sequencing (WES) and Whole Transcriptome Sequencing (WTS)-based assay with FDA-approved CDx indications for molecular profiling of solid tumors, and includes one pan-cancer and five tumor-specific indications for numerous FDA-approved therapies.
QuantHealth expands AI trial platform with key hires: Sharon Dagan and Siwar El Assad
QuantHealth in Israel is an AI company conducting patient-centric drug simulations to accelerate and de-risk drug development, by combining over 1 Trillion data points (from over 350,000,000 patients, 100,000 molecules and 180,000 clinical trials) across the clinical and pharmacological domains. Their AI solution enables ClinDev and ClinOps teams to holistically simulate a clinical trial in thousands of variations within minutes, allowing users to evaluate each parameter on endpoint success, commercial viability, and protocol feasibility. Their Large Healthcare Model (LHM) learns deep patient-drug interactions that drive high-resolution outcome models with 86% endpoint accuracy and continually adapts as new research comes forward, and can be further enhanced with internal trial data and proprietary research.