As a result, the U.S. government has taken increased measures with the passage of the Food and Drug Omnibus Report Act of 2022 (FDORA), which will require sponsors to submit diversity plans to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all late-stage st…
GLP-1s, ADCs, AI and the future of pharma
Pharma’s potential breakthroughs in AI, ADCs, and GLP-1 receptor agonists raise a critical question: can innovation outpace the relentless rise of chronic disease?
The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science sheds light on this theme, among many others, in its 80-page Global Trends in R&D 2024 report.
Pillar 1: GLP-1 receptor agonists targeting metabolic diseaseSpeaking of next-gen metabolic therapies in particular, Murray Aitken, the executive director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, sees significant potential. Market projections for GLP-1 drugs are bullish, with some analysts projecting sales potentially hitting $100 billion by 2030. “It’s exciting because if the market for these drugs becomes as big as anticipated, it means they are truly being disruptive in a positive way to human health for hundreds of millions of people worldwide,” said Aitken
New metabolic therapies are sorely needed as the obesity epidem…
From gatekeeper to strategist: The evolution of the CISO role in drug development
But that image is outdated — especially in risk-focused industries like financial services where CISOs are integral to digital transformation projects and the broader risk management considerations.
From CIS-‘no’ to risk maestro“Drug development is a risk-focused industry as well,” said Daniel Ayala, chief security and trust officer for Dotmatics. “There is a huge amount of risk.” Consequently, CISOs working in pharma contexts are increasingly expanding their roles from technical experts to risk-aware business leaders who happen to have deep technical expert…
Microsoft and 1910 Genetics: AI-powered partnership targets billion-dollar savings and growth in drug discovery
Microsoft and 1910 Genetics have announced a partnership that aims to reverse the troubling trend.
Accelerating discovery with AI and quantum-inspired computingMicrosoft’s Azure Quantum Elements is at the core of this alliance. The platform integrates high-performance computing, AI, and quantum techniques for faster scientific discovery in chemistry and materials science. The goal is to democratize technologies like AI, high-performa…
Rare diseases, immense needs: J&J’s mission to change the landscape
Rare diseases may seem niche, but their impact is far from small. An estimated 7,000 rare diseases exist, collectively affecting a staggering 300 million people worldwide. This immense burden of disease, coupled with a profound lack of treatment options, underscores the urgent need for innovation. “Actually, the total burden of disease and unmet medical need [for rare disease] is really high,” emphasizes Dr. Katie Abouzahr, vice president, autoantibody portfolio and maternal fetal disease area leader at Johnson and Johnson Innovative Medicine. In recognition of Rare Disease Day on February 29 in 2024, we spoke with Abouzahr to explore how Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine aims to tackle these challenges.
The profound scarcity of treatments for the thousands of known rare diseases drives Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to this area. Abouzahr highlights that many of these diseases still lack advanced therapies, emphasizing the “incred…
Big Pharma shakeup: This chart reveals the new top dog of 2023
In the Aesopian fable, the tortoise’s steady focus and persistence overcomes the hare’s bursts of speed. 2023 saw a similar shift in the pharma sector. While Pfizer, thanks to blockbuster COVID vaccine sales, rocketed to unprecedented heights in 2022 surpassing $100 billion in revenue, its fortunes reversed in 2023. As COVID product demand plummeted, Pfizer’s revenue nosedived to $58.5 billion, even resulting in a quarterly loss in Q3. Conversely, Merck’s consistent, diversified approach propelled it past Pfizer to become the Big Pharma leader in 2023, with a revenue climb to $60.115 billion, making it the top Big Pharma of 2023 — by a hair. While Merck’s revenue was $60.1 billion, Pfizer’s was only $1.6 billion behind.
This article will analyze the current top five Big Pharma firms, analyzing their successes and…
Beyond the neon: Las Vegas emerging as a surprise biotech hub
The city is helping drive Nevada’s bioscience sector growth, which experienced a 22% growth surge from 2018 to 2021, far exceeding the national average. Its recent Super Bowl spotlight illuminated more than just football; it revealed a city where world-class researchers, visionary investors, and ambitious startups are fueling a bioscience boom.
Tina Quigley, president and CEO of the Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LGVEA), emphasized the strategic positioning of Las Vegas in the bi…
Amidst empty labs, signs of biotech’s resurgence emerge
In 2024, 72 late-stage therapies are poised for FDA approval, hinting at the potential for resurgence within the life sciences. While post-pandemic lab construction meets a wave of approvals, a slowdown in venture funding and job growth casts a temporary shadow. Additionally, the biotech lab space real estate picture is not as simple as it seems, with a marked shift in the scale and nature of drug development driving evolving space needs.
Even amidst this p…
Pushing the frontier of drug discovery with the world’s most powerful supercomputer
Access to Frontier “changed our company overnight,” Narain said. With…
2024: AI and scientists take turns at the wheel of drug discovery
In drug discovery, interest in harnessing the power of AI ramped up significantly with breakthroughs like AlphaFold, where AI predicted protein structures with astounding accuracy. AI’s initial focus was analyzing existing data, with machine learning systems excelling at tasks like predicting new drug interactions, molecular behaviors, and even biological pathways, based on troves of experimental data. ML can also aid in identifying promising drug targets by using natural language processing to analyze scientific literature.
But AI’s role is rapidly evolving. In 2024, AI is poised to transition from analyzing existing data to a more proactive drug discovery role as a predictor and collaborator. Shifts fueling the trend include the rise of generative AI, which can create novel molecular structures and predict their properties. An…
Survey: Wielding AI magic in clinical trials requires a master’s touch
Much like the eager apprentice in Disney’s animated film “Fantasia,” which itself is inspired by Goethe’s “Der Zauberlehrling”(“Sorcerer’s Apprentice“), many in the clinical research field seem eager to unleash the power of AI even before fully grasping the strategic investment required for mastery…
Big Pharma clicks soared, but new cell therapies made you buzz: What drove biopharma interest in 2023?
Despite biopharma’s 2023 layoffs and challenges, innovation won your clicks last year with over 130,000 of them on our Pharma 50 report alone. But while giants dominated, your clicks showed disruptive tech wasn’t far behind. The next-most popular article was a roundup of 100 trailblazing cell and gene therapy companies with more than 80,000 views. Other hits included companies putting AI in drug discovery and development, and the ever-popular biotech startup watch – proof that solutions, not just statistics, attract attention. Rounding out the top five was a roundup of biotech job cuts and openings.
2023 biopharma innovation in the spotlight on LinkedinBut over on LinkedIn, innovation was also a driver of interest. Topics on women’s health, such as Organon doubling down on women’s health, novel approaches to mental illness at…