Are you ready to communicate how your company is leveraging new technologies?

The 2024 Nobel Prizes for artificial intelligence achievements in both Physics and Chemistry have brought AI to the centre stage of science like never before. The physics prize was awarded to two scientists, John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, who laid the groundwork for the field of machine learning, STAT News reported. The next day, the chemistry prize went to a trio of researchers whose work built on Hopfield and Hinton’s principles, developing AI models that predict the structure of proteins and design entirely new ones, the paper explained. The new model’s machine-learning approach integrating physical and biological knowledge about protein structures, has raised hopes for accelerated progress across the biotech industry.

In the runup to BIO-Europe 2024, many participants are thinking about the implications of these advances and how to explain the ways they could affect their company’s work. This is not an easy task with tight schedules, short meeting windows and different levels of comfort with questions of intellectual property. So, we did some research and asked several meeting attendees to tell us about how their companies are leveraging new technology.

Entering a New Frontier—Drug Discovery Platforms

The ability to predict the structure of essentially any protein in nature using AI has raised excitement in drug discovery circles. But as veterans in the field know, high hopes don’t equal success. According to a paper in the June 2023 issue of Elsevier’s Drug Discovery Today, these hopes have not yet come to bear. Development continues and with further advances, scientists may be able to harness the power of AI-generated protein structures to discover drugs to treat a variety of diseases, including cancer, the paper said.

For Vienna-based QUANTRO Therapeutics, the advances have renewed ambition to go after difficult targets. Dr. Michael Bauer, CEO of QUANTRO is attending this year’s conference to build awareness of the company’s transcriptomic drug discovery platform and rapidly growing pipeline targeting historically undruggable transcription factors. It uses machine learning to help drive its drug discovery.

“Our platform is the first technology available enabling time-resolved transcriptomic profiling with high-throughput screening capacity for drug discovery, uniquely capable of capturing rapidly changing shifts in transcriptomic dynamics, which were thus far invisible,” Dr. Bauer said.

In addition, the company is deploying proprietary machine learning approaches and deep learning models, which allow it to rapidly analyse vast datasets of transcriptomic data with unprecedented time-resolution and precision. Together, this means it can precisely target transcription factors, key regulators of gene expression that were previously considered undruggable, opening the door to innovative treatments in areas of high unmet medical need such as cancer and many other diseases driven by disease promoting changes in gene transcription, he explained.

Selwyn Ho, CEO of Medigene, is making his way from Martinsried, Germany—a biotech hub near Munich—to Stockholm for the upcoming conference. With its platform, Medigene aims to create TCRs that are highly sensitive, specific, and safe, forming the backbone of their engineered T cell (TCR-T) therapies. Their lead candidate, MDG1015, is about to enter clinical trials, bringing Medigene in close reach of demonstrating proof of concept.

The company’s ambitions go beyond TCR-T therapies. A recent partnership with WuXi Biologics is pushing Medigene into new territory, targeting solid tumors with TCR-guided T cell engagers (TCEs)—off-the-shelf treatments that blend Medigene’s precise TCR targeting with WuXi's cutting-edge antibodies for T cell activation. “This collaboration is a key step in expanding the reach of our TCR technology,” Ho said, hinting at Medigene’s drive to explore more partnerships and broaden the potential of its platform.

Secarna Pharmaceuticals, a global partner for oligonucleotide drug discovery and development programs, will participate in the conference to speak about its proprietary oligonucleotide discovery and development platform, OligoCreator, combining both innovative and proven delivery modalities with the precision and specificity of oligonucleotides.

“The basis of our oligonucleotide discovery platform is our unique AI-powered bioinformatics selection process – which is constantly enhanced with wet lab data to refine our prediction algorithms”, said Konstantin Petropoulos, CEO of Secarna Pharmaceuticals. “This helps us to optimize our in-silico selection strategy, resulting in an exceptionally high hit rate in our in vitro and in vivo safety and efficacy screens and and ensures high quality candidates for clinical development with little to no need for lead optimization.”

Belgian bioinformatics, data analytics and data management service and consulting company BioLizard, applies its AI and data science expertise to enable data-driven drug discovery and R&D processes for biotech, pharma and diagnostics companies. Its employees – the ‘Lizards’ – are experts in bioinformatics, AI, data analytics and architecture as well as software development. The company recently opened new offices at Biopôle in Lausanne, home to one of the largest biotech hubs in Switzerland.

“At BioLizard, we empower biotech companies to unlock the full potential of their data through our unique Bio|Verse framework. By bridging the gap between complex data and actionable biological insights, we help organisations navigate the complexities of modern drug discovery and development,” says Liesbeth Ceelen, CEO at BioLizard.

Early Adopters—Medical Devices

In addition to AI and ML, 3D printing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and nanotechnology are significantly changing medical devices by enabling more precise diagnostics, personalized treatments, remote patient monitoring, and even the creation of implantable or bio-compatible devices.

ARTCLINE GmbH was founded as a spin-off from the University of Rostock. The company is developing innovative therapeutic procedures for intensive care medicine. It provides a functional sepsis therapy by combining the two worlds of blood products and extracorporeal devices.

The patented extracorporeal ARTICE® therapy uses immune cells from healthy donors to disburden and reactivate the dysfunctional immune system of patients with septic shock. The purified granulocyte concentrates are administered as part of a directed manufacturing process under a GMP manufacturing authorization. Both production and treatment procedures are patent protected in US and EU. The clinical benefit of ARTICE® has been demonstrated in two scientific studies. “We are currently conducting an additional pivotal clinical trial to demonstrate the usability of our first-in-class technology to our partners, investors, and clients. It will generate data to underpin not only the safety, but also the clinical benefit of the ARTICE® technology particularly in relation to mortality outcomes”, said Dirk Hessel, Managing Director of Artcline.

Emerging Technology Leaders--Pharma Services Providers

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are also reshaping the pharma services sector, which is experiencing rapid growth. The European market is expected to surpass $83 billion by 2034, according to data from market research firm Nova One Advisor. The increasing demand for pharmaceuticals is being driven by aging populations, increasing life expectancy and the rising prevalence of chronic diseases. This plus the emergence of new therapeutic modalities like cell and gene therapies and the growth of small and mid-sized biotech firms lacking the infrastructure and capacity to research, manufacture and commercialize drugs are calling for service providers to innovate.

Rentschler Biopharma, a leading CDMO for biopharmaceuticals, including advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), recently announced the construction of a new state-of-the-art buffer media station at its company headquarters in Laupheim, Germany. The new facility is the largest single investment in the German site in the company’s history and aims to further increase production efficiency and modernize the site, ensuring that the evolving needs of clients and patients are anticipated and fully met, both now and in the future.

“At Rentschler Biopharma, we strive to empower tomorrow’s therapies today. As a reliable partner and passionate enabler, we transform innovative ideas into life-saving biopharmaceuticals. By connecting experts, experience, and expertise, we are mastering the complex to achieve the best solutions. We recently launched our Rentschler Development Services to support our clients in their endeavors – not matter if they need to be fast, flexible or creative. This also includes our new fast-track service “Velocity”. Our activities at BIO-Europe, and specifically our booth, are a platform to connect with existing clients and new companies to understand their ideas and discuss how we can support their needs,” says Federico Pollano, SVP Business Development.

Serum Life Science Europe is a pharmaceutical consulting and development company based in Hannover, Germany. SLS Europe provides strategic expertise in pharmaceutical development, clinical trial management, and regulatory affairs, specializing in guiding biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies through the European and global regulatory landscape. The company supports product development from R&D to commercialization, collaborating with partners to bring innovative products to both European and global markets.

“At BIO-Europe, Serum Life Science Europe GmbH is excited to showcase our expertise in pharmaceutical development, regulatory advice, clinical trial management, and marketing authorization support. We look forward to engaging with partners to translate innovative treatments and therapies into clinical trials and market entries successfully.”

Having a Moment—Small Molecule R&D

Due to their low molecular weight and ease of manufacturing, small molecule drugs have been the backbone of pharma drug development for nearly a century. However, according to industry trade publication Chemical & Engineering News, small-molecule research and development is having something of a moment.

“New classes of molecules, such as proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and molecular glues, have people excited,” said Laura Howes in a 2023 article. How can scientists and business development executives leverage this excitement to generate interest in their company?

Alexander Gebauer, MD, PhD, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Galimedix, a small molecule drug developer targeting neurodegenerative diseases of the eye and brain, is attending 2024 BIO Europe to discuss the company’s innovative approach to blocking the formation of toxic oligomers and protofibrils of amyloid beta, a key step in the neurodegenerative process. It uses highly specific small molecules to avoid disruption of normal neuronal function.

“We have seen some promising progress in bringing new treatments to patients suffering from serious neurodegenerative diseases of the eye and brain, such as Alzheimer’s as well as age-related macular degeneration. Despite these advancements, the need remains for better therapies. Small molecules are easier, more cost-effective to manufacture and often can be applied via safe and patient-convenient routes of administration. In the case of brain and eye diseases, the compounds we are developing are devoid of safety risks that have been identified for other modalities. Therefore, our goal is to offer new hope for patients by treating their diseases with safer, easier-to-use, more efficacious treatment options.”

HepaRegeniX, a clinical-stage biotech from Tuebingen, is developing a novel therapy for acute and chronic liver diseases with its lead small molecule. HRX-215 is a first-in-class MKK4 inhibitor that unlocks the liver's regenerative capacity. “MKK4 inhibition has proven to be an ideal mode of action for inducing liver regeneration. It has an excellent safety profile and has tremendous potential in hepatectomies, transplants and chronic diseases like Alcoholic Steatohepatitis,” said CEO Elias Papatheodorou. HRX-215 has shown significant potential in preclinical studies for treating liver failure and enhancing liver regeneration after transplantation, which could improve outcomes and reduce waiting lists.

As the company heads to BIO-Europe, it celebrates a €15 million Series C financing to support Phase II development of HRX-215. “With a successful Phase I trial and a recent Cell publication covering the journey from discovery through first-in-human testing, HRX-215 shows enormous promise in providing a much-needed therapy for acute and chronic liver complications,” Papatheodorou emphasized.

Pivoting to Your Story—Are you Ready For It?

In your pre-conference preparations, take a minute to think about how you can provide base-line knowledge of what your company is doing in relationship to advances in new technology. Or better yet, practice explaining how your company mission aligns with the direction these technologies are taking us in. Communication on innovative topics can be challenging but successful collaborations depend on it.