March 2018 Volume 14, Issue 3

Volume 14, Issue 3 | March 2018
March 2018
In this Issue
Discovery

An ‘intelligent’ approach
AI and machine-learning approaches seem to be an industry theme for Q1 2018
Working the crowd
Open-access communities launch to support drug discovery efforts
Compugen catches a new checkpoint
Discovery of ILDR2 as a novel immune checkpoint and potential for autoimmune diseases published in back-to-back papers
Getting the ‘Akt’ straight in angiogenesis
Sanford Burnham team details how the R-Ras/Akt pathway triggers and supports new blood vessel growth
Pushing paper
A roundup of discovery-related research published recently in journalsResearch & Development

‘Virus-cracking’ molecules
Indiana University team fights hepatitis B
Protein power
New methods emerge to manufacture therapeutic proteins
Have a (mouse) heart!
Single-cell characterization of non-myocyte heart cells offers new insights into structure and function
Are immortalized stem cells poor surrogates?
Deleted gene that immortalizes MSCs may be critical to their function
Corning introduces new dissolvable microcarriers
Product offering is designed for improved large-scale cell expansion
Pieris and Seattle Genetics announce immuno-oncology collaboration
Companies to evaluate novel bispecific agents combining anticalin technology with select antibodiesPreclinical

Tag team against Usher syndrome
Foundation Fighting Blindness and ProQR enter into a partnership to develop QR-421a for genetic disease
‘Not just science, but an art form’
Kinase inhibitor may prove useful in treating rare genetic disease
In with the new
RWTH explores biohybrid development and digital notebook option
Double the good news
BioLineRx’s BL-8040 and AGI-134 programs boost survival in preclinical studies
China- and U.S.-bound for RX-0201
Rexahn announces collaboration with Zhejiang Haichang Biotechnology for development of Archexin to treat hepatocellular carcinoma
A deal for artificial lymph node technology
ProBioGen and TEVA enter into research license deal on tech to assess drug effects on the immune systemFeature

Spotlight on Oncology
New discoveries in cancer-related targets and pathways, plus other recent news in oncology R&D and clinical trials
Special Focus on Neuroscience and Neurology
Looking at recent cutting-edge research in potential therapeutics for neurological conditions, plus additional news on autism breakthroughs, addiction treatment and moreEditor's Focus

Editor’s focus: So much to share
A tour of what we have to offer you in our largest-ever issue of the magazine, from neurology to oncology and plenty of other places in the pharma and biotech worldContract Services

Coming together in contract services
A roundup of mergers and alliance deals in the contract services and pharma consulting spaces
Innovate UK confident in Cobra
Cobra Biologics receives two separate grants from British innovation funder
Presenting a plan for growth
Vetter introduces South Korea’s pharma and biotech community to company management
Kicking up clinical capture
IACT Health selects Alpha Clinical Systems ACS360 e-source platform for trial data captureBusiness & Government Policy

NHGRI: Seeing 2020
Strategic plan aims to engage experts and diverse communities to identify paradigm-shifting areas of genomics
Supporting science startups
Elsevier welcomes six biotech and pharma companies to The Hive
On the cutting edge
A roundup of instrumentation, software and other tools and technology news
Patent Docs: The CRISPR chronicles
The Broad Institute wins one and loses one
FDA approves record number of personalized medicines in 2017
Personalized medicines now account for more than one in four new drug approvalsClinical Trials

Viral suppression
Study investigates two new drugs for HIV
Replacing a needle with a pill
Allergan achieves positive top-line Phase 3 results for oral CGRP receptor antagonist targeting acute treatment of migraine
A digital path for studies
TriNetX tech helps Sanofi streamline clinical trial protocols, improve efficiency and extend digital strategy
Out of the starting gate
A roundup of clinical trial startups and initial breakthroughsDiagnostics

A new ‘path’ for Parsortix
ANGLE and Abbott seek blood test for metastatic breast cancer
A novel companion biomarker for glaucoma
Q BioMed signs exclusive option with Washington University related to growth differentiation factor-15
Money for MeMed
$4M grant awarded to support transfer to manufacturing of MeMed’s pioneering point-of-care platform
microRNAs for earlier diagnosis?
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s team identifies set of seven microRNAs that could detect early-stage ovarian cancer
FDA approval for Hologic’s Aptima
Assay for quantitation of hepatitis B viral load receives pre-market approvalCommentary
