System biology

Reprogramming the stem cell for a new generation of cures By Dr Alex Davenport, Dr Tonya Frolov and Dr Mark Kotter Volume 21 Issue 2 – Spring 2020 The development of new and effective treatments with the potential to cure, or at the very least ease patient suffering, has been the driving force in biomedical […]

Drug development 2.0 – The partnership model in practice By Dr Brian Sheehan and Marco Cerato Over the last decade there has been a fundamental shift in the way in which drugs are developed and brought to market. Some years ago, the industry started to see profits falling as research and development (R&D) costs continued […]

Harnessing the modified proteome for increased diagnostic power By Dr David Bramwell, Dr Steven Laval and Dr Jane McLeod Relevant biomarkers are vitally important in personalised medicine, guiding patient matching to specific therapies for earlier, easier and more effective disease identification and treatment. Here we trace the expectations of ’omicsbased healthcare interventions, from the increased […]

Unlocking the potential of Extracellular Vesicles: from single molecules to novel therapeutics By Dr Anna Caballe and Dr Katarzyna Ginda-Makela As part of normal homeostasis, cells release different types of small-sized membrane vesicles to traffic analytes across membranes, communicate with other cells and remove unwanted cell content. These vesicles can range in size from 30nm […]

By Dr Steve Arlington and John Wise As part of its mission to help members anticipate and prepare for changes in the pharmaceutical industry, The Pistoia Alliance has developed a research paper which sets out to consider what the life science, biopharma R&D and healthcare ecosystem might look like in 2030, in particular how the […]

Evolution of User Experience for life sciences By Jacek Ziemski, Simon Fortenbacher, James Hoeksma, Jan Taubert, Roger Attrill, Paula de Matos, Andre Richter and Julie Morrison Since 2017 we have seen the slow and steady adoption of User Experience (UX) within the life sciences. User Experience is an evidence-based design process that centres on the […]

Using Live-Cell Imaging Systems to Transform Perspectives in Drug Discovery By Helen Stewart-Miller and Dr Kate Tointon Live-cell imaging has transformed the study of cell behaviour and function. The technique allows researchers to monitor internal cell structures, interactions and processes in real-time, and over time. In drug discovery, understanding the dynamic processes of cells provides […]

Unlocking Clinical Trial Data to Uncover New Therapeutic Opportunities By David Wang, Masha Hoffey and Dr Simone Sharma This article discusses opportunities, challenges and best practices in leveraging infrastructure excellence and AI to unlock the value of early or inconclusive clinical trial data. The goal… driving stronger biomarker-based insights and decisions and helping to advance […]

Reducing the PAINS in High Throughput Screening: Assay design as a tool for maximising efficiency By Dr Philip S. Jones and Dr Stuart P. McElroy While the quality of the compound collection is frequently described as a key determinant of the success of a high throughput screening campaign, in our opinion equally important is the […]

How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Drug Design By Dr Mark Roberts and Dr Sam Genway AI could create a streamlined, automated approach to drug discovery, trawling vast datasets to identify targets, find candidate molecules and predict synthesis routes. Getting there will require significant vision, but we are already seeing exciting examples of AI helping direct […]

By Dr Alexander C. Maue 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 […]

Optimising Phenotypic Screening – Single-cell analysis versus 3D multicell analysis By Dr Richard M. Eglen In light of the high failure rate of compounds when they are subjected to clinical testing, we are seeing a renaissance in phenotypic screening in drug discovery. However, most phenotypic screening is based on the use of cellular assays and […]

Evolving Models for NASH Drug Discovery: Tools for stemming a silent epidemic By Dr Sue Grepper, Dr Radina Kostadinova, Dr Eva Thoma and Professor Armin Wolf Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has quietly become one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease in the modern world. If this prevalence is allowed to continue […]

2030 Life Sciences and Health in the Digital Age (Part 1) By Dr Steve Arlington and John Wise One of the key ways in which The Pistoia Alliance works with its members is to help them not just deal with the problems of today, but also to look ahead, to anticipate how the industry is […]

Fail Early, Fail Fast – A phenotypic rescue approach By Dr Anne-Marie Zuurmond, et al. New disease targets frequently emerge in literature, but the thorough target validation required to consider these targets for a drug discovery programme is often lacking. In pharmacological or genetic perturbation studies using complex biological assays, undesired off-target effects cannot be […]

Automating Automation – How close are we to Artificial Intelligence impact? By Dr Michael A. Tarselli, Dr Yohann Potier and Dr Alan E. Fletcher In terms of consistency, repeatability, known errors and sheer volume, there exists perhaps no better collection of data for computer learning than that emerging from automated processes. Many common lab procedures […]