Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) – Unlocking their full potential for Drug Discovery By Abby Edwards and Dr Richard Massey Human stem cells were once viewed primarily as regenerative materials for tissue repair through cell therapies. However, advances in technologies and protocols mean that induced pluripotent stem… Read More
Antibiotics & Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) – A Global Perspective Professor Anthony Coates and Dr Yanmin Hu Antibiotic resistance is at a crossroad. In the world today, deaths in low income countries from Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) are predicted to rise dramatically by 2050. We know how… Read More
Microfluidics – Driving Innovation and Streamlining Single Cell Analysis By Dr Frank F. Craig Microfluidics platforms that harness picodroplet technology (picolitre volume aqueous droplets in stabilised oil emulsions) are unlocking the potential of single cell analysis to enable exciting new discoveries and advances with the potential to… Read More
Disruptive Approaches To Accelerate Drug Discovery and Development (Part 2) By Dr Anton Fliri, et al. Part 2: Emergent intelligence, a new paradigm for drug discovery. (You can read part 1 of disruptive approaches to accelerate drug discovery and development linked here.) The… Read More
Astrazeneca R&D – Improving Drug Development Productivity With Better Predictivity By Dr Menelas Pangalos & Steve Rees et al. Changing demands in global healthcare over the past 15 years have led to greater complexity and spiralling costs in drug development. The average price tag of taking a… Read More
Bringing Immuno-Oncology Together: How An Immunologist & Oncologist Collaborate By Dr Julia Schuler and Dr Louise Brackenbury For many years, immunology and oncology operated as separate disciplines within drug discovery. However, recent advances in immuno-oncology (IO) have demonstrated what can be achieved when the two disciplines join… Read More
Natural Killer Cells – How NK Cell Therapy Will Transform Immunotherapy By Dr Azusa Tanaka and Dr Michael Seiler Regulatory approval of CAR-T cell therapies in 2017 placed the spotlight on immunotherapy approaches that use live cells to attack tumours – a major shift in oncology treatment and… Read More
High-Throughput Spheroid Culture – Applications of 3D Cell Culture By Hilary Sherman, Dr Richard M. Eglen & Audrey Bergeron In this article, we describe applications of high-throughput screening using 3D cell culture to assess cell viability. In addition, we highlight the importance of including multiple cell types… Read More
By Dr Simon Moore, Dr Kirsty Harper & Dr Sylwia Marshall The impact and effective routes of non-clinical safety assessment of inhaled biopharmaceuticals. With the rapid generation of biological screening data and the potential for innovative selection of compounds for screening,… Read More
Breaking Down Silos in Drug Development – Why interdisciplinary integration is fundamental for pharma’s future By Dr Paul Overton In this article, we consider the symptoms and consequences of a silo culture in drug development, and look at how interdisciplinary integration should be at the heart of… Read More
By Dr Jason Mellad The sequencing of the human genome in 2003 signalled the dawn of an exciting new era for genetic medicine. Yet almost 15 years later it has become clear that our genes alone cannot predict our susceptibility to most complex diseases or… Read More
Oral Peptide Therapeutics – A Holy Grail or Quixotic Quest? By Dr Paul Shields Technologies have been honed to overcome many of the challenges of administering peptide therapeutics orally, but obstacles remain before drug developers can fully realise the vast potential. Proteins and… Read More
Drug Discovery in the Age of Big Data – The Impact of RNAi & CRISPR/Cas9 Technologies By Dr Prem Premsrirut This article discusses how RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 technologies are helping to build better mouse models and push drug discovery into a new era. Read More
Phenotypic Screening – Advancing the science from discovery to regulatory science By Dr Ellen L. Berg Phenotypic screening is transforming drug discovery as advances are made in development of human-based physiologically-relevant in vitro systems. Integration of phenotypic drug discovery approaches with target-based screening… Read More
Nanoparticles & Nanomedicines – Exploring The Past, Present and Future By Professor Yvonne Perrie & Dr Euan Ramsay Nanoparticles, and liposomes in particular, are growing in popularity as drug delivery vehicles for anti-cancer agents and inflammatory disease therapies, as well as forming the basis of a new class… Read More
The Rise of Immunotherapies – Strategies to Accelerate Their Advance Into Clinical Trials By Edward Cribb The striking rise of immunotherapies in the past decade has had a transformative effect on the prospects for the treatment of patients with cancer. Also referred to as… Read More