The DDW Podcast: 2023 in review

As 2023 draws to a close, DDW’s Multimedia Editor and podcast host Megan Thomas rounds up all the free episodes of the DDW podcast that were released. You can also find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. DDW Highlights Innovative. Evolving. Developing. Busy. These are just some of the words that come to mind when talking about not just the drug discovery sector, but the lives of those working in and around it. You can tune in every week to DDW Highlights for a roundup of industry news and updates. Episodes are released weekly. Catch up on previous weeks here. In Conversation With In the In Conversation With series, Thomas speaks with members of the drug discovery industry about their work and how it helps turn science into business. The first episode in 2023 was a conversation with Livia Ng, CEO and Founder of Neuroute, and CEO of Trialbee, Matt Walz. Ng is working on critical challenges in clinical trials, specifically in planning and recruitment, and has been building innovative solutions designed to benefit patients and researchers – with a focus on efficiency, transparency and diversity in clinical development. Walz shared insight into how real world data can help to boost diversity rates in clinical trials. Listen here. The second episode was with Dr Simon Fricker, Chief Development Officer of PepperBio. Over the course of his career, including eight years as a distinguished scientific fellow at Genzyme/Sanofi, Dr Fricker worked on three approved drugs: Paraplatin, Fosrenol, and Mozobil. Dr. Fricker was a founder of Canadian biopharma company AnorMED, acquired by Genzyme, and awarded the Queen’s Award for Technology for his participation in the development of the anticancer drug Paraplatin. He speaks about this drug discovery journey here. Next, Thomas spoke with Kate Kelland, author of Disease X: The 100 Days Mission to End Pandemics, a book which explores the emergence of the novel coronavirus and the crisis it caused. In this episode, Kelland shares what she means by the ‘next pandemic’, the lessons learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the role of global health organisations and pharma companies going forward. Listen here. Thereafter, the series featured Dr Michael Pace, Global & Strategic Feasibility Expert at Rho. Dr Pace discusses how precision medicine is already starting to influence standards in clinical trial design. Listen here. Dr Pierre Eftekhari, Chief Scientific Officer of Inoviem Scientific, joined the podcast series to share his insight into the future of drug development, leaning on his in-depth understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and its needs. Listen here. MDC’s Dr Martin Main, Chief Scientific Officer and Dr Nicola Heron, Chief Strategy Officer. MDC is part of the Catapult Network established by Innovate UK and has a vision to reshape drug discovery for the benefit of patients by transforming great UK science into better treatments through partnership. The two joined to share what MDC is doing to bridge the gaps in drug discovery. Listen here. Another guest was Dr Bruce Bloom, Chief Collaboration Officer at Healx, a biotechnology company using AI drug discovery to develop new treatments for rare diseases, as well as the founder of Cures Within Reach, a global non-profit driving new treatments to patients through repurposing research. This episode is available here. In September, Shelley Ackerman, a biological engineer turned immunologist with a passion for drug discovery and development, spoke about the work being carried out at Bolt BioTherapeutics, where she is the Director & Program Team Lead. Listen here. The following episode featured Dr Jude Samulski, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at AskBio. Dr. Samulski’s graduate work demonstrated the first substrate for adeno-associated viruses (AAV) as a viral vector and culminated in the first US patent involving non-AAV genes inserted into AAV. He speaks about his work and his career journey here. The final episode of the year was with Isaac Klein, Chief Scientific Officer of Dewpoint Therapeutics. In this episode, Klein shares insight from his career, Dewpoint’s pipeline, how to solve biological mysteries and the value of partnership. Listen here. Narrated podcast Every issue of DDW is narrated, with a range of episodes published in 2023, including: Where is the latest innovation in neuroscience? Outside the box thinking for drug discovery success Drug discovery trends: From regulation to embracing AI Important therapies for the future of immunotherapy Drug discovery success stories Overcoming different barriers in drug discovery How is mass spectrometry advancing drug discovery? A deep dive into US drug discovery What lies in the future for genomics and big data? A business case for drug discovery Immunotherapy, avelumab and protecting the immunocompromised Reaching new heights with drug discovery Challenges and tactics for transformative drug development Innovating now to reinvent the future of drug discovery What’s at the forefront of innovation? The impact of technology on drug discovery Data integrity and the value of the cloud Painting a picture of the lab of the future Mass spectrometry and CRISPR are pillars of drug discovery The impact of synthetic biology and collaboration in pharma CROs and targeted protein degradation offer an exciting future A deep dive into the future of ophthalmology Sitting Down With Catch up on the Sitting Down With podcast episodes released in 2023: How the tools you use impact precision in the lab Helping to Advance Precision Medicine: Sengenics i-Ome Discovery Microarrays The FDA Modernisation Act 2.0 and seizure liability testing What are the benefits of a target safety assessment? How Cancer Research Horizons is innovating through its academic and industry interface How a target safety assessment supports the drug development process The integration puzzle: Open ecosystem can unlock the potential of lab data