PARIS – Whitelab Genomics SAS has signed a partnership agreement with Genethon, a French research center in the field of gene therapy, to ramp up development of genetic therapy techniques using artificial intelligence (AI). As part of this partnership, Genethon will use the Whitelab Genomics Catalyst platform to develop new capsids.

With the prevalence of central nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and stroke increasing annually, the need for novel therapeutics to treat neurologic and psychiatric disorders has never been greater. Unfortunately, even though there is a significant unmet medical need, because of the high risk and low approval rates of drugs targeting those devastating diseases, in the past decade big pharma companies have been dramatically reducing their R&D spending on CNS disorders, noted Naheed Kurji, president and CEO of Toronto-based Cyclica Inc.

IBM Research and Boston Scientific Corp. are harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to create an objective pain measurement tool that could someday replace standard patient-reported pain scales in the assessment of chronic pain.

HONG KONG – Hummingbird Bioscience Pte. Ltd. is collaborating with artificial intelligence (AI) company Tempus Labs Inc. to advance HMBD-001, a differentiated anti-HER3 neutralizing antibody developed using Hummingbird's Rational Antibody Discovery platform, into clinical trials in HER3-driven cancers.

HONG KONG – Hummingbird Bioscience Pte. Ltd. is collaborating with artificial intelligence (AI) company Tempus Labs Inc. to advance HMBD-001, a differentiated anti-HER3 neutralizing antibody developed using Hummingbird's Rational Antibody Discovery platform, into clinical trials in HER3-driven cancers, including those that harbor neuregulin 1 (NRG1) fusions.

Genesis Therapeutics Inc. CEO and co-founder Evan Feinberg likens the collaboration of his company’s team of chemists, biologists and software developers to that of a jazz band. Everyone has to be familiar with everyone else’s roles and responsibilities in order to do their job, or play a solo, when it’s their turn.

Shenzhen Xbiome Biotech Co. Ltd., an artificial intelligence (AI)-based microbiome drugmaker, raised more than $20 million in a series B+ round, Xbiome CEO Yan Tan told BioWorld, financing that will help the company launch its phase I trial next year. It has been a year since the drugmaker closed a $14 million series B round. During this period, Tan said Xbiome submitted an IND to the FDA in October for its fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) capsule candidate, a potential treatment for graft-vs.-host disease.

LONDON – The Google artificial intelligence company Deepmind has developed an algorithm that can predict the 3D structure of a protein from its amino acid sequence, making it possible to solve the structures of proteins, such as G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), which are a mainstay of drug targeting but whose structure is challenging to determine with current methods.

The pace at which companies are integrating the sophisticated tools of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into their early stage drug discovery and development programs is accelerating, as evidenced by the creation of new dedicated AI-focused biopharma companies and the eagerness of drug developers to partner with AI firms.