Opinion

On January 31 2023, an internally circulated version of the European Commission’s overhaul of the EU’s pharma legislation was leaked, and published by Politico1. Politico published a summary of the key propositions outlined in the draft2, and DDW’s Multimedia Editor Megan Thomas investigates their intention, and observes how the industry has responded.   Key proposals   Approved […]

Genomics is driving a revolution in drug development and, in the long run, the state of public healthcare. Advances in sequencing are leading to scientific breakthroughs in preventative care, faster diagnoses, and proactive medical interventions. Jack Dix, Head of Healthcare Strategy and Consulting at Kainos, expands.  Genetic insights are also guiding healthcare closer to precision […]

The cell and gene therapy (CGT) market is rapidly expanding, and projections suggest it will reach over $90B by 2023. With a maturing clinical pipeline, many FDA-approved treatments are on the horizon. The biopharma industry must industrialise cell and gene therapy manufacturing to bring these life-saving therapies to a larger scale than ever before, says […]

The cell and gene therapy (CGT) landscape has grown significantly in the past year. Between the 24 therapies already approved by the FDA1 and a marked increase in clinical trials, widespread accessibility to precision medicine feels within reach. Lauren Collison, PhD, Senior VP, Operations & Site Head, KBI Biopharma, reflects.   The individual successes within the […]

By Lucy Radley, Head of EU Regulatory Development, ProPharma. A rare disease is defined as a condition which affects less than one in 2000 people. Although individually they are very rare, collectively they are common with one in 17 people (around 3.5 million) in the UK being affected by a rare disease at some point […]

Avtar Singh is a Senior Scientist in the Cell and Tissue Genomics Department at Genentech, where he develops new approaches for image-based screening and high-throughput biological discovery. DDW’s Megan Thomas spoke with Singh about SLAS2023, where he presented Image-based screening of pooled genetic libraries. MT: Why is SLAS2023 a prime space for you to share […]

Dr Asma Patel, Vice President of Integrated Services for Early Development at Quotient Sciences, reflects on the biggest barriers to rare disease drug development and how companies can overcome these. Despite improvements in regulatory support and commercial rewards, difficulties remain for drug developers in bringing rare disease drugs to market. There are four main barriers […]

mRNA technology helped us to vaccinate the world against SARS-CoV-2. As we turn our focus to new potential applications and disease areas for the platform, scientists and companies must consider the potential life-saving impact on rare, inherited diseases, says Archana Gupta, PhD, staff scientist in genetic sciences at Thermo Fisher Scientific.  Approximately 7,000 rare and […]

Johannes Goll, Global Head of Emmes’ Biomedical Data Science and Bioinformatics department, explains how big data analytics can deliver improved therapies and bring clinical research one step close to realising the potential of personalised care. A key breakthrough area where big data analytics has shown tremendous scope and application is in systems biology, which has […]

As of late December 2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) no longer needs drugs to be tested in animals to receive approval, according to legislation signed by President Joe Biden1 – the Modernization Act 2.0. This news has been shared widely as a landmark moment, especially in the eyes of animal welfare organisations but […]

Kadans Science Partner and Canary Wharf Group (CWG), London, are developing an innovation facility providing access to fully fitted laboratories and space for developing life science companies, following the announcement of a joint venture to establish a new UK Life Sciences cluster at Canary Wharf. DDW’s Megan Thomas caught up with James Sheppard from Kadans […]

Over the three days of Advanced Therapies Week (ATW) 2023 in Miami, Florida, US, from 18 to 20 January, DDW’s Megan Thomas heard from attendees about what they were most looking forward to learning from the event, as well as why they think the potential of cell and gene therapies outweighs the obstacles that must […]

Dr Julie Warner is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at global drug development consultancy, Boyds. In this article, she provides her expert insights into the key regulatory developments likely to shape the global drug development industry this year.    Implementation of the EU Clinical Trials Regulation  The way clinical trials (CTs) are conducted in the European […]

By DDW Editor Reece Armstrong The looming threat of global warming, consequences of which can already be seen and felt across the planet, will impact us all. It seems that despite a constant barrage of warnings by scientists and experts, alongside visible effects such as wildfires, droughts, and blistering heatwaves, we still aren’t doing enough […]

In January 2022, DDW’s Megan Thomas spoke to decision-makers from the drug discovery industry about their predictions on what 2022 holds for our sector. As we head into 2023, DDW will be publishing a series of reflections on these predictions. Here, Thomas reflects specifically on Anita Cooper’s prediction relating to the importance of clinical trials.  […]