PacBio, FormBio Unifying AAV Industry, Insilico Medicine Introduces New Products, More
By Bio-IT World Team
July 25, 2024 | Form Bio and PacBio announced a range of new initiatives aimed at advancing and unifying the AAV industry; Insilico Medicine has introduced new products under Pharma AI: Biology42: PandaOmics Box, Precious-3 GPT, and Science42: DORA; and more.
Form Bio and PacBio announced a range of new initiatives aimed at advancing and unifying the adeno-associated virus (AAV) industry. The initiatives—including an AAV data dictionary, open-source tools, and more—are being driven by a new AAV Working Group, jointly assembled by Form Bio and PacBio and composed of leading AAV experts across industry and academia. Though AAV is recognized as one of the most promising gene therapy technologies due to its non-pathogenic nature, AAV-based program collaborations are often hindered by industry silos that lead to divergent terminology and methods. The lack of standard definitions and practices make it harder and more time-consuming for regulatory agencies to evaluate potential new therapies. To counter this, Form Bio and PacBio have convened leading experts to form an AAV Working Group dedicated to developing and promoting standardized nomenclature and reporting practices to foster consistency and reliability in AAV research and development. Press release.
Insilico Medicine has introduced new products under Pharma AI: Biology42: PandaOmics Box, Precious-3 GPT, and Science42: DORA. Biology42: PandaOmics Box integrates PandaOmics, Insilico’s generative AI-driven biological analysis engine, extensive scientific databases, and advanced hardware systems with state-of-the-art computational power and chip-level confidential computing for secure, offline, on-premises deployments. Precious-3 GPT is an open-source transformer-based large language model (LLM) engine that supports multi-modal, multi-omics, and multi-species biomedical research through virtual data generation. Finally, Science42: DORA integrates multiple AI agents that leverage LLMs and is designed to streamline the process of drafting academic papers and other scientific documents including grant and patent applications, internal research summaries, IND applications, etc. Press release.
Pluri has signed a tech transfer and manufacturing agreement with Kadimastem. PluriCDMO, launched earlier this year, leverages Pluri’s 47,000 square foot good manufacturing practice cell production facility to manufacture cell-based products for life science companies. PluriCDMO will manufacture two cell therapy product candidates for Kadimastem: AstroRx, clinical grade human astrocytes (nervous system supporting cells) for the treatment of ALS for an upcoming U.S. Food and Drug Administration Phase 2a study; and IsletRx, clinical grade pancreatic islet cells which produce and secrete insulin and glucagon in response to blood glucose levels, for the treatment of diabetes. Press release.
George Mason University’s College of Public Health is the new home of 400,000 biological specimens through a partnership with Inova Health Systems. This biobank is an extensive collection of obstetrical and perinatal samples, along with follow-up health information, providing a rare and invaluable asset in public health and in the education of our future health, science, and technology care workforce. Press release.
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have used machine learning to define three subtypes of Parkinson’s disease based on the pace at which the disease progresses. In addition to having the potential to become an important diagnostic and prognostic tool, these subtypes are marked by distinct driver genes. If validated, these markers could also suggest ways the subtypes can be targeted with new and existing drugs. Press release.
Weill Cornell Medicine has also teamed up with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to develop and test new artificial intelligence (AI) tools tailored to digital pathology—a relatively new field that uses high-resolution digital images that are created from tissue samples to diagnose diseases and inform treatment decisions. They found that ChatGPT can be tailored using an artificial intelligence technique called retrieval-augmented generation, to provide accurate responses to questions about digital pathology and compile detailed results. The authors also found that ChatGPT can help pathologists, without extensive coding experience, use complex software that analyzes tissue samples, effectively helping bridge the gap between pathology skills and digital pathology skills. Press release.
Heriot-Watt University and the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) are collaborating to increase the profile of Heriot-Watt as a hub of academic excellence. The collaboration will take a ‘triple helix’ approach, engaging academia, health systems, and industry partners throughout Scotland and the UK with a commitment to understanding the challenges innovators face in HealthTech research and commercialization, working to identify opportunities to overcome them through supported processes and policy lobbying. Press release.
Twist Bioscience has expanded its growing portfolio of synthetic viral controls with the launch of a synthetic RNA control for H5N1 Influenza A, which is one of the causes of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) or bird flu, covering 99.9% of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genome regions. Positive controls provide quality control measures for the development, verification, and ongoing validation of both next-generation sequencing (NGS) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. The Twist control contains synthetic RNA segments of the complete H5N1 HA and NA genome regions, which determine the subtype of the strain. Press release.
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University announced the creation of the Cancer Bioengineering Collaborative to develop innovative technologies and bioengineering approaches to improve cancer research, diagnosis and treatment. Led by Rice’s Gang Bao, Ph.D., and MD Anderson’s Jeffrey Molldrem, M.D., the initiative aims to foster collaboration between the two institutions on fundamental and translational cancer research, to develop new technologies for cancer detection and therapy, and to secure external funding in support of further research and training. Press release.
Cytiva is addressing the distinct filtration needs of customers manufacturing high-concentration biologic drugs with its Supor Prime sterilizing grade filters, the latest addition to its extensive filtration portfolio. The Supor Prime filter is designed to help drug developers achieve higher yields, reduce premature blockages, and limit the costs associated with filtration losses. Press release.