Relation Therapeutics, a drug development company driven by data science and machine learning (ML), has announced Project RE, which will use technology to idenitfy of repurposed drug combinations as potential therapeutic candidates for COVID-19. Project RE will focus on finding therapies to tackle viral entry and replication and is co-led between Mila (Quebec AI Institute) […]

Avacta is planning to launch an ELISA laboratory test for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to support global research efforts into the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are very common research tools used to detect and quantify a target of interest in a range of samples. Using the same Affimer reagents that […]

CSL has signed an agreement with the Australian government for the supply of 51 million doses of the University of Queensland’s (UQ) COVID-19 vaccine candidate (V451). In a separate agreement with AstraZeneca it will also manufacture the Oxford University candidate (AZD1222), should clinical trials of both prove successful. The total number of vaccines ordered by […]

The Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre (ATTC) network has been awarded a total of £9.5 million to fund an additional 12 months of the programme. £6.5 million has been granted from the government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and an additional £3 million from its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), managed by UK […]

It has become quite evident that the microbiome has the potential to impact drug discovery in vital ways. In addition to impacting study reproducibility and variability, the microbiome may influence drug efficacy or serve as a therapeutic agent. To capitalise on the microbiome’s potential to improve human health, biotech and pharmaceutical companies are devoting greater […]

Drug discovery is increasingly informed by genomics, which can significantly boost the chances of a novel therapy successfully navigating the lengthy journey from bench to bedside. But despite the rapid proliferation of genomic information, we still have a limited understanding of how specific genes and genetic variations drive tumour growth and therapeutic resistance. In turn, […]

Flow cytometry is an invaluable technique for the characterisation of highly heterogeneous cell populations. Thanks to improvements in throughput, automation and multichannel detection capabilities, recent years have seen its use expand across a wide range of drug discovery applications. In this article, we look at novel developments in flow cytometer reagent and instrument design, and […]

Despite major investment in the field, few cell therapies have gained regulatory approval with limited commercial success. The success of therapeutic products is defined by three factors: safety, efficacy and scalability. Achieving these for cell therapy presents new challenges; overcoming transplant rejection (and GvHD in the case of immune cells), producing and culturing functional cells […]