Artificial intelligence

Preclinical data support Evaxion’s platform behind CMV vaccine candidate

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a clinical challenge in infants and immunocompromised individuals, since no licensed vaccine exists. Vaccine development is complex due to several factors, including viral latency, genomic complexity and immune evasion, among others. Evaxion A/S recently presented data on its proprietary AI-immunology platform used to create the EVX-V1 vaccine for CMV infection.

AI co-scientist performs biomedical research ‘at expert level’ in less time

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0400

While biomedical resources in the form of specialized tools, hundreds of thousands of published papers and huge repositories of ‘omics, health records and other data, are growing exponentially, discovery is getting slower and more expensive. That is the perspective from which scientists at Stanford University approached the development of their artificial intelligence (AI) research assistant Biomni.

Mindbeam AI discovers TRPV1 modulators for pain

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Mindbeam AI has leveraged generative AI to accelerate the discovery of novel pain therapeutics predicted to have improved liver safety compared to acetaminophen.

AI co-scientist performs biomedical research ‘at expert level’ in less time

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:00:00 -0400

Deerfield-backed Boulevard, Metis pen $1.6B trispecific TCE deal

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

A U.S. biotechnology company founded by Deerfield Management Company L.P. licensed exclusive rights to Metis Techbio Co. Ltd.’s preclinical trispecific T-cell engager (TCE) for autoimmune disorders in a potential $1.62 billion deal.

AI uncovers hidden antibiotic potential in prion proteins

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Some proteins embedded in the structure of prions may have antimicrobial activity, according to a study led by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania. An AI analysis of millions of fragments from prion-related proteins has revealed more than a thousand peptides that disrupt bacterial membranes and reduce infection in animal models, suggesting these proteins could be an unexpected source of new antibiotics.

Going after gonorrhea with artificial intelligence

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Researchers at the Wyss Institute of Harvard University have used a mix of machine learning and classical screening techniques to identify small molecules that were effective against Neisseria gonorrhoeae in vagina-on-a-chip and mouse models of infection. Their findings were published in the June 17, 2026, issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Going after gonorrhea with artificial intelligence

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Skape Bio unlocks GPCR targets with de novo-designed miniproteins

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Modulating G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) is one of the major challenges in biomedicine. These are flexible proteins with small, deep binding pockets. The scientific community has explored small molecules, antibodies and nanobodies to develop ligands. Skape Bio Inc. is betting on creating miniproteins, a strategy that brings precise solutions for different functions.

Reprogram Biosciences secures financing for solid tumor mRNA work

Thu, 28 May 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Reprogram Biosciences Inc., a preclinical oncology biotechnology company developing mRNA-based therapeutics to treat solid tumors, has announced the close of its seed financing, bringing the total capital raised to $6 million since the company’s founding in 2025.

Biomunex enters AI partnerships to advance cancer immunotherapies

Wed, 27 May 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Biomunex Pharmaceuticals SAS has entered into strategic collaborations with two AI-specialized companies – Gordion Bioscience Inc. and Tangramed Biotech SAS – as part of its strategy to integrate AI into its R&D activities and support the development of next-generation immunotherapies in oncology.

Financing supports Fathom Therapeutics’ Microcosmos drug design engine

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Fathom Therapeutics, formerly Atommap Corp., has raised $47 million in an oversubscribed series A financing to advance its work using physics-based simulations and AI to model protein motion and interactions at atomic resolution.

AACR 2026: The age of agentic AI in oncology

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for drug development are transforming biomedical research by replacing or complementing animal models. More than 90% of experimental compounds fail in clinical trials, underscoring the need for strategies that better capture human biology. Many of these techniques were showcased at the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting.

AI opens the way to systematic risk assessment of zoonotic potential of viruses

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400

Researchers in the U.K. have developed an AI-driven method of identifying viruses in wild animals with the potential to spillover into humans. The technique makes it possible to use the genome sequences of the spike proteins by which viruses enter host cells to assess the potential to infect humans without having to isolate an individual virus and tests its infectivity in the lab.

More of everything as Amazon moves into AI-driven drug R&D

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Amazon is extending the reach of its “everything store” into drug R&D with the launch of an artificial intelligence-powered Bio Discovery business. The company has compiled a catalogue of 40-plus foundation models that have been trained on extensive biology datasets and are able to generate and evaluate drug molecules in silico. For now, this covers antibodies only, but it is intended to move into other modalities.

Insilico Medicine and Aska enter gynecological collaboration

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Insilico Medicine Cayman Topco has established a strategic research collaboration with Aska Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. to identify novel therapeutic targets for challenging gynecological conditions, including endometriosis, uterine fibroids and adenomyosis.

Rybodyn raises funding to decode the dark proteome

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Rybodyn Inc. has announced the initial close of a $10 million seed financing to support its work decoding the dark proteome using an AI-powered novel sequencing and discovery platform. The financing will accelerate the company’s transition from foundational discovery into scaled platform execution and progress early-stage programs into IND-enabling studies.

PerturbAI emerges from stealth with an atlas full of data

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

PerturbAI has emerged from stealth mode with the release of the world’s largest in vivo CRISPR atlas as described in a preprint on Biorxiv. The study profiled over 7.7 million cells from the brains of 74 mice with different cellular knockouts of 1,947 disease-associated genes. The San Francisco-based company’s Perturb-seq platform combines CRISPR perturbations with single nucleus RNA sequencing to look at gene expression.

Zelluna, Etcembly partner on AI-enabled T-cell receptor engineering

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 09:00:00 -0400

Zelluna ASA has established a collaboration with Etcembly Ltd. that will focus on the engineering of high-affinity, tumor-specific T-cell receptors targeting KKLC1.

Digital pathology speeds diagnostics, but tends to take shortcuts to do so

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:00:00 -0500

Computational pathology, which assesses molecular-level features of diseases directly from tissue images (rather than testing the tissue via methods such as staining or sequencing) is making rapid strides.

Omnigeniq’s journey from space science to drug design

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0500

A project that started as a bioreactor to assist astronauts in deep space to keep medications safe in a microgravity environment could help pharma companies model how drugs behave in the human body. Omnigeniq unveiled at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference the first computer model of a human protein as it exists in the body, confirming that native protein topology can be calculated directly from physics.

AI meets antibody design: Galux draws $29M series B for drug R&D

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 09:00:00 -0500

Galux closed a ₩42 billion (US$29 million) series B round Feb. 10, led by Yuanta Investment to bring AI-driven “rational design” to the protein drug development process, already heavily influenced by human engineering.

Deepmind’s AI model predicts the effect of variants in dark genome

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0500

Google Deepmind is shedding light on the dark genome with its latest AI model, which is trained to decipher the 98% of DNA that does not code for proteins. Alphagenome is designed to predict how variants in the regulatory genome exert their effects on the expression of the genes they control.

Deepmind’s AI model predicts the effect of variants in dark genome

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:00:00 -0500

1,000 experts design a PhD-level exam to test AI capabilities

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 08:00:00 -0500

How much have AI applications learned, and how can one know their capabilities if they are being evaluated with an exam that is far too easy? In 2024, with the publication of the previous benchmark to measure AI performance, the field debated whether existing assessments would keep pace with the rapid progress of AI.

Deepmind’s AI model predicts the effect of variants in dark genome

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 08:00:00 -0500

AI identifies pregnancies at risk of spontaneous pre-term birth

greg.kaplan@clarivate.com — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:00:00 -0500

Prenaital ApS has filed a patent for technology that may identify risks of spontaneous pre-term birth. Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) is usually defined as birth occurring before 37 weeks of gestation. The invention relates to a method for predicting potential preterm birth from medical scan data, which may be used in practice by medical professionals for risk analysis and prognosis of potential pathologies.

F.Med redefines the future of microsurgical robotics

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 11:00:00 -0500

Microsurgery is performed to connect small human vessels, but the technical difficulty required to conduct this type of surgery is quite specialized and limits the number of surgeons who can perform microsurgery.

Wlanholding CEO says it may be too early to trust AI in health care

Tue, 20 Jan 2026 11:00:00 -0500

Investors continue to pour capital into AI-driven health care technologies, from drug discovery and diagnostics to personalized medicine and clinical decision-support tools. However, there remain issues with the quality and reliability of the data underpinning these systems, as well as the viability of their business model.

Top and slop: 2026 is shaping up as another big year for AI

Wed, 14 Jan 2026 08:00:00 -0500

Depending on who you ask, AI will take over the world and save it; or ruin it. Certainly, it is changing it. Science magazine dedicated its first editorial of 2026 to AI. Despite its title – “Resisting AI slop“ – editor-in-chief Holden Thorp gave the sort of nuanced review that is typical of him.