September 2017 Volume 13, Issue 9

Volume 13, Issue 9 | September 2017
September 2017
In this Issue
Discovery

Another AI alliance
Exscientia shares artificial intelligence capacity with top pharmaceutical partner
ReadCoor, WAVE Life Sciences collaborate for research
Partners aim to unlock next-generation stereopure nucleic acid targets with FISSEQ technologies
‘Building on excellent experiences’
Max Planck Innovation, Daiichi Sankyo and the Lead Discovery Center to pursue cancer lead discovery
Rare disease research
NIH team identifies cause of muscle disorder CFZS
Blocking key enzyme may reverse memory loss
MIT study suggests a new approach to developing treatments for Alzheimer’s diseaseResearch & Development

Streamlining bispecifics
Merck KGaA uses Genedata functionalities to scale up bispecific antibody discovery programs
Microsystems with a big impact
Research uses new polymer chip model to grow biomimetic microtissue
Race in the race against AD
UC Davis awarded more than $14 million for Alzheimer’s disease study in Latinos
Simplified synthesis
Rice University team details new approach for synthesizing aminating agents
Lilly and Purdue form strategic research collaboration
Lilly will provide the university up to $52 million to fund life-sciences research over five yearsPreclinical

Inventiva publishes IVA337 data
Results support therapeutic potential of the pan-PPAR agonist for the treatment of NASH
Good news with NOX
France’s Genkyotex launches GKT831 to target CAFs, delay tumor growth
Subcutaneous success
Catalyst sees encouraging activity levels in vivo for Factor IX, VIIa products
Immunovaccine personalizes cancer immunotherapies
DepoVax system successfully combines 14 neoepitope cancer peptides into one formulation
Progress on ABX464
Compound dampens intestinal inflammation by triggering IL-22 production in activated macrophagesSpecial Reports

Special Report on Infectious Disease: The fungus within us
Is our arsenal evolving quickly enough to match its protean foe?Feature

Special Focus on CRISPR: CRISPR on the move
Gene-editing technology continues to evolve
Show Preview: The genome goes to Orlando
ASHG 2017 meeting to showcase the latest on the human genome
Guest Commentary: Affinity and beyond--Assessing the alternatives to therapeutic antibodies
New technological developments that would benefit from a new breed of affinity binders include antibody-drug conjugates that link cytotoxic drugs to targeting binders, bi-specific affinity molecules that concurrently target multiple biological pathways and new affinity reagents for the evolution of in-vivo imaging. These technologies have the potential to fundamentally reshape the industry, not only offering essential healthcare cost savings, but also to provide new medicines with improved safety and efficacy for patients.
Patent Docs: Federal Circuit Loosens Requirements for Finding Inequitable Conduct
Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by a district court that the patent at issue before it had been obtained through inequitable conduct. However, contrary to prevailing standards the district court used litigation misconduct rather than malfeasance during patent prosecution to justify its decision, raising fears that lawyers involved in obtaining patents for their clients may be found liable for conduct of (other) lawyers representing their clients in litigation.Editor's Focus

The treasures in our trove
A look at the bonuses to be found on the DDNews websites with our Editconnect codesContract Services

INC Research propels Catalyst into psychiatric arena
New offering joins existing Oncology and Vaccine networks in the Catalyst suite
A more vigilant Quanticate
With the thalidomide tragedy still in mind decades later, U.K. CRO heightens pharmacovigilance
WuXi merges two units
STA Pharmaceutical combines with Pharmaceutical Development Services divisionCommentary

Guest Commentary: De-risking drug development
Can the pharma world better select new molecules that will have a greater than a 1:10,000 chance of progressing through development and making a successful, safe, marketed product?
Out of order: Significant, but relevant?
There seems to be an assumption that if something is statistically significant, it is medically relevant. The corollary would imply that something determined not statistically significant is therefore not medically relevant. But is this true? And medically relevant for whom?Clinical Trials

Going after gonorrhea
Entasis and GARDP partner to develop treatment for increasing threat of resistant gonorrhea
Dueling with Duchenne
PTC Therapeutics publishes ACT DMD Phase 3 trial data
An impressive Phase 2 for Reata
Company advances bardoxolone in Alport syndrome based on significant kidney function improvement
Adding Japan to GALACTIC-HF
Cytokinetics announces positive results for omecamtiv mecarbil in Japanese heart failure patientsBusiness & Government Policy

Pairing up against autoimmunity
Eli Lilly and Nektar join forces to seek new treatment for autoimmune conditions
On the move
Avantor and BioTek expand; labfolder joins Merck Accelerator
On the cutting edge
A roundup of instrumentation, software and other tools and technology news
Co-developing tisotumab vedotin for solid tumors
Seattle Genetics exercises option; costs to be split equally with Genmab going forwardDiagnostics

Biological Dynamics advances exosome isolation technique
ExoVerita lab-on-a-chip system can simplify and streamline the isolation and recovery of exosomes
Two is better than one
Biodesix’s GeneStrat and VeriStrat tests for non-small cell lung cancer pass with flying colors
Invitae to acquire CombiMatrix
Combined company hopes to tap power of genetics to inform health decisions when starting a familyQ&A

Q&A: In-vivo models of infectious disease
We speak to Adriano Flora, associate director of the Scientific Program Management Group at Taconic Biosciences

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