Biotech – The Cutting Edge: Pandemic investments are bearing fruit

We believe the UK should be looking to drive up appetites to invest in Life Sciences to match the quality of our scientific endeavour. The pandemic really was a rising tide for Life Science, and we note two examples this week of emerging technologies. UK plc must not be left behind. We also look at AI in Radiology, struggling to believe that disruption to image processing is not near to hand. We also find out that reading ‘The Cutting Edge’ can actually be good for you, in itself…

Support our Sciences. The Times covers this topic, lauding the quality of the UK’s offering but calling for greater support. Pascal Soriot (CEO of AZ) wants support beyond ‘discovery science’ amid the backdrop of AZ investing US$360m in a manufacturing facility in the Republic of Ireland (rather than the UK). We however, believe discovery science needs much more though, and Syncona’s CEO Chris Hollowood thinks so too, adding that once commercial programmes get into shape, there are some structural issues in the UK that need addressing – primarily “scale capital”.

Coronavirus’ consequences were not all bad. A great example from the UK is a malaria vaccine (R21) developed by the Jenner Institute (of OxfordAstraZeneca fame) has been licenced in Ghana. Trials show that children have up to 80% protection, beating the WHO-specified target of a malaria vaccine (of 75% efficacy) for the first time. mRNA also came to the fore in the pandemic as Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccine dominated (US$17bn worldwide sales). Endpoints focusses on how mRNA in vaccines was the “low hanging fruit” and that we could apply the technology to other therapeutic areas if only we could target tissues, which does not matter for vaccines. Bob Langer (co-founder of Moderna and Board member at PureTech) believes “nothing is impossible” when it comes to delivering mRNA elsewhere. With a flood of capital into indications “from cancer to cystic fibrosis” (US$5.2bn in 2021-2022) there has been improvements in traditional thinking on ‘lipid nanoparticles’, and we can attest first-hand how difficult these are. One example from Strand Therapeutics includes designing specific mRNA’s that are only expressed in certain tissues, getting over the somewhat promiscuous nature of lipid vesicles on their own.

AI a perfect partner to Radiology? We remain big believers of greater adoption of AI in radiology, and we saw a great example of AI’s capabilities in radiology this week, with Annalise.ai receiving seven new FDA clearances for their AI radiology technology in triage solutions (a protocol to prioritise more urgent care cases) and notification solutions (eg indicators of adverse health). Whilst adoption is not likely to come cheap, we highlight that the FDA has already cleared c.400 radiology algorithms. Many, including us, believe that AI has potential to optimise workflows for efficiency, free up radiologists time and also help with a hospitals’ drive to reduce costs.

Flushing the brain. Researchers suggests that the brain may in fact flush out (drained out in cerebrospinal fluid by the brain’s waste disposal system) harmful waste products after intense visual stimuli. However, this may require a mental workout or staring at a flickering black and white chequerboard for an hour…