Merck & Co. has acquired Verona Pharma for $10 billion in a deal designed to expand the pharma giant’s portfolio of cardio-pulmonary disease treatments. In a step toward virtual cell benchmarking, the Arc Institute has launched the Virtual Cell Challenge to evaluate the ability of transcriptome AI models to generalize to new cell contexts for therapeutic applications. Fujifilm rebrands life science companies to position itself as a drug development leader. Additionally, AAV-OTOF gene therapy shows promise in restoring hearing loss while a new proteomics tool gleams insight into telomere repair. We wrap up our episode with highlights from BIO 2025, as FDA Commissioner Martin Makary, MD, shared his vision for a “New FDA” focused on accelerating drug applications, industry partnerships, and applying AI.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base:

Merck to Acquire Verona Pharma for $10B, Adding Fast-Growing COPD Drug

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, July 9, 2025

Arc Institute Launces Virtual Cell Challenge to Accelerate AI Model Development

By Fay Lin, PhD, GEN Edge, June 26, 2025

End-to-End: Fujifilm Rebrands Life Sciences Companies, Positioning Itself as Drug Development Cycle Leader

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, July 8, 2025

AAV-OTOF Gene Therapy Trial Restores Hearing in Both Children and Adults

By GEN, July 7, 2025

Proteomics Tool Sheds Light on Cancer Cells’ Telomere Repair Tactics

By GEN, July 7, 2025

Makary Calls for “New FDA” at BIO; Defends Agency’s Spring Job Cuts

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 18, 2025

Cell and Gene Therapy Leaders Tell FDA: “Believe in American Solutions”

By Kevin Davies, PhD, and Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 5, 2025

Behind the Breakthroughs Podcast

Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Acast

BIO 2025, Huge Virtual Cell Dataset, AI-Designed De Novo Proteins

BIO 2025 is off and running. GEN editors discuss the size and scope of the bustling conference hall and share excitement about the week’s talks and panels. News from BIO includes the announcement of Lilly’s acquisition of Verve Therapeutics. Editors discuss the implications of industry-backed therapeutics amid cautious investors and public sentiment. In the realm of AI, Xaira Therapeutics, a $1 billion-backed AI drug discovery unicorn, has capped its first year by releasing the largest publicly available Perturb-seq dataset to support its virtual cell initiative. Additionally, AlphaDesign, a new AI-driven framework, accelerates the creation of functional de novo proteins, moving protein design toward custom therapeutics and precision medicine.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Uduak Thomas, and Fay Lin, PhD, for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news.

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base

Lilly to Acquire Verve Therapeutics for Up to $1.3B

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 17, 2025

Second DMD Patient Dies After Treatment with Sarepta Gene Therapy

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 15, 2025

Danon Disease Patient Dies in Rocket Gene Therapy Trial

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, May 27, 2025

Xaira Therapeutics Releases Largest Perturb-Seq Dataset to Power the Virtual Cell

By Fay Lin, GEN Edge, June17, 2025

AI-Designed Proteins Created De Novo with New AlphaDesign

GEN, June 17, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A gene therapy clinical trial for Danon disease run by Rocket Pharmaceuticals has been suspended following the death of a patient. MIT and Recursion have released Boltz-2, an open-source tool that predicts molecular binding affinity at newfound speed and accuracy, aiming to democratize commercial drug discovery. Intellia Therapeutics saw its stock nosedive late last week after a patient in its Phase III trial of the CRISPR-based therapy experienced non-lethal liver toxicity. In other news, a therapeutic plasma exchange regimen combined with intravenous immunoglobulin reduced some biomarkers of biological age in humans. Sanofi has agreed to acquire Blueprint Medicines for up to $9.5 billion, and a universal CAR T cell therapy was produced by applying CRISPR gene editing to cells donated by healthy individuals.

Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, PhD, and Uduak Thomas for a discussion of the latest biotech and biopharma news. 

Listed below are links to the GEN stories referenced in this episode of Touching Base

Danon Disease Patient Dies in Rocket Gene Therapy Trial

By Alex Philippidis, GEN, May 27, 2025

Boltz-2 Released to Democratize AI Molecular Modeling for Drug Discovery

By Fay Lin, PhD, GENEdge, June 6, 2025

StockWatch: Intellia Stumbles on News of Patient’s Severe Liver Toxicity

By Alex Philippidis, GEN, May 30, 2025

The State of CRISPR Summit Registration

https://bit.ly/CRISPR25

Plasma Exchange in Humans Reduces Biological Age by Over Two Years

GEN, June 1, 2025

Sanofi to Acquire Blueprint Medicines for Up to $9.5B

By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 2, 2025

"Universal" CAR-T Immunotherapy Targets Relapsed/Refractory Blood Cancers

GEN, May 30, 2025

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.