PHARMACY MARKET, PHARMA TECH
prnewswire | April 18, 2023
Science and technology company Merck and XtalPi Inc., a pioneering pharmaceutical technology company powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, have jointly published a study that highlights the benefits of combining computational workflows with wet lab experiments to advance drug development.
Traditional methods like milling and micronization, used to address undesirable crystal morphologies, can be disruptive and costly. In contrast, molecular dynamics simulations offer valuable insights for better crystallization experiment designs.
The collaboration between Merck and XtalPi focused on the impact of different polymer additives on the crystal habit of metformin HCl, a diabetes medication. By combining Merck's experimental capabilities with XtalPi's morphology prediction platform, a comprehensive screening approach for crystal morphology engineering was developed. XtalPi's custom-made force fields successfully predicted the influence of polymer additives on metformin HCl's crystal habits. The addition of HPMC led to a transformation from a needle-like to a prismatic morphology, in agreement with experimental observations. The publication demonstrates the potential of merging computational methods and experimental expertise for drug formulation optimization.
Dr. Peiyu Zhang, XtalPi's Chief Scientific Officer, said, "By integrating XtalPi's molecular dynamics predictions with Merck's experimental validation, we have taken a step towards the rational engineering of desirable crystal habits. We hope to continue improving this 'dry + wet lab' method with leading industry experts like Merck, in the production of novel therapeutics worldwide."
Dr. Jan Gerit Brandenburg, Head of Digital Chemistry at Merck, added, "Our collaboration with XtalPi is transforming pharmaceutical development. By seamlessly incorporating computer simulations with our experimental formulation expertise in a 'digital-first' approach, we are boosting drug development processes and positively impacting patients' lives."
About XtalPi
XtalPi is a quantum physics and AI-powered pharmaceutical technology platform that provides integrated drug discovery solutions for global pharmaceutical companies. XtalPi has pioneered a new model for drug R&D that leverages a tightly interwoven trifecta of AI, autonomous labs, and expert domain knowledge. The company applies this three-pronged approach in its R&D platform to accelerate the drug discovery and development process and address unmet needs for patients worldwide.
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PHARMA TECH
prnewswire | May 30, 2023
ValGenesis, Inc., the market leader in enterprise validation lifecycle management systems announced that a leading pharmaceutical company in Brazil selected ValGenesis iRisk to redefine and automate the company's risk-based validation processes. ValGenesis iRisk is the world's most advanced risk management platform, used by top pharmaceutical companies across the world.
With corporate origins in Japan, the company draws upon a rich legacy of innovation and a pipeline of robust therapeutics that are enhancing the lives of millions of people across the globe.
Working to keep pace with ever-changing business and regulatory landscapes, the company chose ValGenesis iRisk because it enhances business performance and business process excellence across end-to-end product and process lifecycles. On this compliant platform, experts can analyze, visualize, query, and compare risk over different products, processes, production sites, and more, sharing a continuous flow of risk communications between relevant stakeholders to get products to market more quickly and safely.
"Brazil is the largest pharmaceutical market in Latin America, and we are happy that more companies are turning to ValGenesis for risk-based validation solutions that enforce a structured and consistent approach to risk, " says Steve Reynolds, Chief Revenue Officer at ValGenesis. "ValGenesis iRisk is able to deliver on these stringent requirements simply, efficiently, and very cost-effectively."
ABOUT VALGENESIS
ValGenesis, Inc. is the creator of an innovative software platform that serves as a foundation for managing compliance-based validation activities in life science companies. ValGenesis, Inc. is the provider of the first enterprise application that manages the corporate validation lifecycle process. This solution is fully compliant with U.S. FDA 21 CFR Part 11 and Annex 11 requirements. As the first fully paperless solution for electronic management of validation execution and approval, ValGenesis was selected by an industry peer review committee to receive the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) New Innovative Technology Award in 2005.
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BUSINESS INSIGHTS, PHARMA TECH
prnewswire | April 11, 2023
Cerner Enviza, an Oracle company, along with John Snow Labs, are now helping support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's drug safety Sentinel Initiative. By developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools aimed at extracting critical information from clinical notes within electronic health records (EHR), Oracle and John Snow will aid the FDA in better understanding the effects of medicines on large populations. Looking at the asthma drug, montelukast, and its possibility of mental health side effects, this two-year project will demonstrate how the use of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) technology with unstructured data may help fill gaps in knowledge.
Cerner Enviza leverages decades of life sciences expertise spanning commercial, real world, clinical and regulatory research. This includes working with a broad range of Oracle provider networks to help accelerate the discovery, development, and deployment of health insights and therapies. John Snow Labs is known for its AI and NLP in healthcare and is the developer of the Spark NLP library. Together, Cerner Enviza and John Snow Labs will develop a new methodology to enhance computerized queries, or phenotyping, of digital patient data and clinical notes to support pharmacoepidemiology.
Cerner Enviza, who will lead the team, was chosen by the Sentinel Innovation Center, who is headed by Mass General Brigham and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.
"Development and evaluation of tools that can enhance our ability to utilize unstructured EHR data is a key strategic priority for the Sentinel Innovation Center. We look forward to this new relationship and exciting initiative led by Cerner Enviza," said Rishi Desai, Ph.D., Mass General Brigham executive leadership team member, Sentinel Innovation Center.
Traditional manual methods for analyzing clinician notes often can be a bottleneck for fully understanding the symptoms and outcomes that patients experience at the population level. However, advances in AI offer a scalable and transportable NLP processes.
"This is an incredible opportunity to work with these exceptional leaders to use Oracle's de-identified EHR data to help transform unstructured clinical notes into validated and useable data for physicians and researchers," said Mike Kelly, global head, Cerner Enviza. "Connected technologies and unified data can accelerate innovation and, in turn, help providers realize better recommendations and outcomes for their patients."
"We are thrilled to team with Cerner Enviza to apply NLP in such an important real-world evidence project," said David Talby, CTO, John Snow Labs. "We're honored by the Sentinel Innovation Center's vote of confidence in our joint ability to help investigate this use case. Together, Cerner Enviza and John Snow Labs have all the right expertise, data, and technology to make it happen."
The project known as the Multi-source Observational Safety Study for Advanced Information Classification Using NLP (MOSAIC-NLP) is also supported by the participation of Children's Hospital of Orange County, National Jewish Health, and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute who will provide clinical expertise and consulting.
About John Snow Labs
John Snow Labs is an AI and NLP company that provides software, models, and data to help healthcare and life science organizations put AI to good use. The company is the developer of Spark NLP and host of the NLP Summit.
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