Iambic Therapeutics and NVIDIA partner to slash cancer drug development timelines

Using generative AI in drug discovery, Iambic Therapeutics (formerly Entos) has advanced its IAM1363 drug candidate from program launch to clinical studies in fewer than 24 months — a process that often takes several years. Iambic Therapeutics’ AI drug development milestone relied on an alliance with NVIDIA researchers and engineers and through the use of AI tools, including NeuralPLexer, a generative AI model designed to predict the three-dimensional structure and binding interactions of protein-ligand complexes.

The company has since developed the next generation of the model, dubbed NeuralPLexer2 that boasts higher accuracy and new features for biomolecular structure prediction and drug design.

IAM1363 is a selective, brain-penetrant inhibitor designed to treat HER2-driven cancers. It is designed to target metastatic tumors throughout the body, including the brain, while offering a wider therapeutic index and reduced toxicity over existing therapies. Read more

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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 disease

Speaking 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…

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Why focusing on the quantity of pharma innovation is misleading

Photo by Louis Reed on Unsplash

Since the early 2000s, pundits have lamented that there is an innovation crisis in the pharmaceutical industry. One of the most common reasons given is the challenge of bringing new drugs to market.

The U.S. Government Accounting Office concluded in 20016 that the “productivity of [the pharma industry’s] research and development expenditures has been declining.” The cost of developing a new drug frequently tops $1 billion, and scores of drug candidates never make it to market.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened society’s appreciation for the pharmaceutical industry’s innovation, the concept of an innovation crisis hasn’t gone away.

Many of the arguments purporting such a crisis focus on the quality of pharmaceutical innovation rather than its quantity, said Troy Groetken, a shareholder, board member, and executive committee member at the intellectual prop…

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Here’s what molecular shape can tell you about pharma innovation

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Is it possible that pharmaceutical innovation has accelerated over the past two decades — with the novelty of small molecule and peptide drugs steadily increasing?

That’s the conclusion suggested by a recent study published in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, which found roughly 65% of FDA-approved drugs in 2020 were structurally novel. Last year’s drug approvals even included at least one new molecular entity based on a novel molecular shape. 

The finding flies in the face of the talk of an innovation crisis in the pharmaceutical industry. Before COVID-19 struck, pharma industry observers tended to chide the industry’s recent innovation track record. R&D costs per drug have increased significantly, while drug blockbusters have grown more scarce. Despite the pharma’s historically high-profit margins, the sector generally trailed the S&P 500 in the years leading up to the pandemic. 

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Here’s what molecular shape can tell you about pharma innovation

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Is it possible that pharmaceutical innovation has accelerated over the past two decades — with the novelty of small molecule and peptide drugs steadily increasing?

That’s the conclusion suggested by a recent study published in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, which found roughly 65% of FDA-approved drugs in 2020 were structurally novel. Last year’s drug approvals even included at least one new molecular entity based on a novel molecular shape. 

The finding flies in the face of the talk of an innovation crisis in the pharmaceutical industry. Before COVID-19 struck, pharma industry observers tended to chide the industry’s recent innovation track record. R&D costs per drug have increased significantly, while drug blockbusters have grown more scarce. Despite the pharma’s historically high-profit margins, the sector generally trailed the S&P 500 in the …

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