Top 10 Stories of 2019: National Genomic Data Initiatives, AI’s Impact in Drug Development, And More
January 9, 2020 | 2019 was a big year for the biotech industry. Developments in AI and machine learning have led to a fantastic year of product announcements, while an industry-wide commitment to data collection is worthy of recognition for innovative practices and thoughtful discussions. As we head into 2020, we at Bio-IT World would like to take a moment and reflect on the groundbreaking achievements from this past year. In that spirit, here are the top 10 stories of 2019, ranked in order of popularity.
—The Editors
1. National Genomic Data Initiatives: A Worldwide Update
The global movement toward the application of genomics to medical practice is exciting because it is essentially “precision medicine come real,” says Ewan Birney, chair of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). But which countries are involved? And what progress has been made so far? Bio-IT World’s overview offers an update on currently active national government-funded genomic-medicine initiatives, grouped by area of emphasis. Read more
2. Bio-IT World Announces Inaugural Innovative Practices Awards Winners
Bio-IT World announced the winners of the 2019 Innovative Practices Awards. The winners were announced live at the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo. Entries from Abbvie, Novo Nordisk, and Sentieon were honored. Read more
3. Artificial Intelligence In Health Care IT – The Potential And The Watch-Outs
Few topics have captured the imagination of the general public and executives in the healthcare IT world like Artificial Intelligence. It is important to look beyond the Sci-Fi of AI and instead look at Artificial Intelligence from a purely computer science perspective. Read more
4. Bio-IT World Announces 2019 Best Of Show Award Winners
Bio-IT World announced the 2019 winners of the Best of Show Awards Program to a packed audience at the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo. ONTOFORCE, Genomenon, Genedata, Kanda Software, and PetaGene were honored. Read more
5. How Artificial Intelligence Will Impact Drug Development
Artificial intelligence has the potential to stimulate and streamline drug discovery and development by increasing our understanding of complex biology, guiding drug design, and by assisting other more mundane elements of pharmaceutical R&D and regulatory affairs. Read more
6. Healthy Gut Microbiome Reference Database Initiated
A group of researchers describe an initial baseline healthy gut microbiome reference database and put forth a prototype reporting template. The goal behind the work is to map the healthy gut microbiome so that they and other researchers can use the data to develop disease-specific prediction models. Read more
7. Novo Nordisk: Natural Language Processing On A Steady Diet Of Real-World Data
Natural language processing is finding novel applications at Novo Nordisk, turning a trio of real-world data sources into a goldmine of knowledge about the medicines it makes, the healthcare providers who prescribe them, and patients who usually pay for a portion of the cost. Read more
8. Will Organ-On-A-Chip Models Be Viable Alternatives to Animal Testing?
The emergence of organ-on-a-chip systems to expedite drug discovery and toxicology studies is a process more than three decades in the making. Read more
9. Medidata Launches Acorn AI For End-to-End Data Insights
Medidata Solutions has launched Acorn AI, a Medidata company dedicated to making “data liquid across the end-to-end lifecycle of a pharmaceutical and life sciences company—from research all the way to development and into post-market.” Read more
10. AI In Real-World Drug Discovery: The Experts Weigh In
An “AI in Practice” keynote panel session at the Bio-IT World Congress & Expo in Boston discusses the efficiencies machine learning is creating in drug development, as well as the overall AI strategy companies are still formulating. Read more