Latest news with #drugdiscovery
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad First Quarter 2025 Earnings: EPS: RM0.056 (vs RM0.057 in 1Q 2024)
Revenue: RM587.8m (up 2.9% from 1Q 2024). Net income: RM126.3m (down 2.3% from 1Q 2024). Profit margin: 22% (down from 23% in 1Q 2024). The decrease in margin was driven by higher expenses. EPS: RM0.056 (down from RM0.057 in 1Q 2024). AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 6.8% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 5.8% growth forecast for the Banks industry in Malaysia. Performance of the Malaysian Banks industry. The company's shares are down 4.1% from a week ago. While it's very important to consider the profit and loss statement, you can also learn a lot about a company by looking at its balance sheet. We have a graphic representation of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad's balance sheet and an in-depth analysis of the company's financial position. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
China targets a new frontier in its bid to eclipse the West
For the world's leading cancer doctors and scientists, few events in the calendar are more prestigious than the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco). Each year, tens of thousands of top researchers gather to unveil pivotal scientific breakthroughs and new therapies that will shape the future of cancer care across the globe. The event has changed the way scientists view breast cancer, challenged views on colorectal cancer and offered novel ideas on how to help seriously ill patients. The discovery which everyone was speaking about last year was one made by a little-known biotech firm called Akeso. Its new lung cancer drug had achieved something 'unprecedented', its US partner Summit Therapeutics said on the eve of Asco. The new experimental drug 'decisively beat' Merck's blockbuster lung cancer treatment in clinical trials. The news came as a shock – not just because it challenged Merck's well-known dominance in lung cancer drugs, but because Akeso was Chinese. 'DeepSeek' moment For years, Asco's annual meeting has been dominated by American scientists. However, last year was different. It marked a watershed moment for the pharmaceutical sector, which had long written off China as a nation that excelled in drug manufacturing and 'copycat' treatments but not medicine discovery. Akeso's debut on the world stage has been described as a 'DeepSeek' moment for the industry – a reference to the sudden emergence of a highly advanced AI chatbot out of China earlier this year, which took US tech giants by surprise and wiped close to $1 trillion (£740bn) off global stock markets. Summit's shares are up more than 600pc since first announcing the lung cancer trial results. 'The two large innovators in our industry today are the US and China,' Sir Pascal Soriot, the boss of AstraZeneca, said in March. 'China is, I think over the next five to 10 years, going to emerge as really a driving force for innovation in our sector.' It sets the stage for a growing tussle between the US and China over the future of drug development. Donald Trump has been clear that he wants pharmaceutical giants to be investing more in America. Biopharmaceutical companies and their suppliers account for 4.9m jobs and are worth around $1.65 trillion to the US. However, drug companies are increasingly turning east when it comes to investing in new drugs and clinical trials. Not only is China becoming an easier place to research and create new drugs, but the Trump administration is also shaking faith in the US. Vaccine sceptic health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has prompted much anxiety in the industry. By contrast, China is 'very business friendly and stable' Novartis boss Vas Narasimhan said in May. Drugs boom Beijing has been attempting to win more pharma investment for years – and specifically attempting to boost funding for drug innovation. Drug discovery was a key pillar of the 'Healthy China 2030' strategy unveiled in 2016, aimed at helping the country cope with its ageing population. The focus has already paid dividends. Over the past three years alone, the number of Chinese drugs in development has doubled to 4,391. Almost half are either novel drugs or something known as a 'fast-follower', where treatments are quickly developed on the back of breakthroughs by rivals. According to Barclays, the number of so-called 'first-in-class' drugs under development in China rose to around 120 last year, having been in the single digits in 2015. First-in-class essentially measures the level of innovation by looking at the highest development stage a drug has reached and the earliest time it reached that stage. The growth in China is unmatched. While the US, which has long been regarded as the world leader in drug discovery, has more first-in-class drugs in development, at 151, the growth rate has been much slower. 'The shift isn't incremental, it's tectonic,' says Abhishek Jha, the founder of life sciences data company Elucidata. One crucial part of Beijing's push to drive more drug discovery has been speeding up clinical trials. In China, regulators allow businesses to get studies up and running quicker, and then update them as they progress. This can provide early data on new drugs, which is a major draw for multinational companies looking for novel treatments that show signs of working well. It has sparked a boom in studies taking place in China. According to figures from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), China accounted for around 18pc of clinical trials sponsored by companies in 2023 compared to just 5pc in 2013. Meanwhile, the US proportion has dipped from 28pc to 23pc. Clinical trial enrolment in China is surging, with around 40pc now having more than 100 participants. Bitter pill Fewer regulatory barriers are just one of a number of reasons pharma companies are turning to China. Workers, too, are less averse to working unsociable hours than they would be in Western nations. Shirley Chen, a Barclays analyst, says: 'Chinese scientists may be happier to accept very long work hours and people like hospital personnel [where trials take place] are actually okay to do night shifts.' Major drug giants are now scouring China for potential deals. The likes of GSK, AstraZeneca and Merck have all struck deals worth more than $1bn to get the rights to develop and sell Chinese drugs outside the country. The rise of China's pharmaceutical industry has started to raise alarm bells in the US. Trump may be focused on returning manufacturing jobs to the US, yet some say he should be concerned that more high-quality jobs and research posts are starting to drift to China. 'Five years ago, US pharmaceutical companies didn't license any new drugs from China,' Scott Gottlied, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, wrote earlier this month. 'By 2024, one third of their new compounds were coming from Chinese biotechnology firms.' He warned that the shift of clinical trials to Asia could undermine innovation in the US as companies choose to 'divert funds that might otherwise bolster innovation hubs such as Boston's Kendall Square or North Carolina's Research Triangle'. 'The US biotechnology industry was the world's envy, but if we're not careful, every drug could be made in China.' While Trump exempted most countries' pharmaceutical industries from tariffs in his 'liberation day' blitz, China was not spared. That means physically manufacturing drugs for the US in China is out of the question, for now at least. However, unless the US rights the ship, many of its treatments may well be designed in China in future. As pharmaceutical leaders made their way to the annual Asco meeting this week, the shifting power balance will no doubt be on attendees' minds. Industry chiefs may be congregating at a US research conference, but attention is turning to the east.
Fast Company
3 days ago
- Health
- Fast Company
The lab of the future: An artificial superintelligence for biology
The lab as we know it today is being transformed by how we think about medical research and drug discovery, as well as the intersection of artificial intelligence and biotechnology. As someone who has transitioned from a doctor to a tech CEO, I've witnessed firsthand how our mindset around medicine and innovation needs to evolve to keep pace with the accelerating changes in technology. In my journey, one of the most important lessons I've learned is: You can be too smart for your own good. It may sound counterintuitive, but when building a company or investing in new technologies, the smartest people often fall into the trap of overcomplicating things. A brilliant idea isn't always enough. You need the right people who can think creatively, take risks, and make it happen in the real world. For me, the mindset shift from doctor to CEO was about understanding that it's not just about medical knowledge; it's about building the right ecosystem to nurture that knowledge and turn it into real and transformative change. I believe that a crucial part of that ecosystem for my company, Owkin, is a new form of intelligence: a biological artificial superintelligence (BASI) to complement the ingenious human minds working with us. Next generation AI tools, like K Navigator, Owkin's agentic co-pilot for researchers, and K Pro for pharma, which is in the pipeline, will allow us to understand the full complexity of biology that has been beyond human understanding so far. This forms the backbone of Owkin's mission: We are creating the next-generation pharma focused on discovering cures and significantly enhancing pipeline value by developing a new intelligence system capable of decoding biological truths at scale. AI can fill the innovation gap left by pharma As the pharmaceutical industry increasingly focuses on a handful of blockbuster drugs, it's leaving behind many areas of medicine that are crucial for the future of healthcare. Too many diseases remain uncured as traditional pharma struggles to navigate the complexity of biology to augment care with efficient new molecules and diagnostics. From rare diseases to precision oncology, there's an innovation gap that AI is perfectly positioned to fill. AI can identify previously overlooked opportunities and streamline the development of treatments that are highly personalized and targeted. Unlike traditional pharmaceutical companies that are heavily reliant on large-scale, high-risk projects, AI companies can operate in a more agile, data-driven way. We can make smaller, more informed bets, leveraging machine learning and vast datasets to uncover insights that were once out of reach. This shift enables faster and more efficient drug discovery, with the added benefit of offering solutions for diseases that may not have attracted the attention of big pharma. Cell lines alone aren't going to work Most traditional biological research has been based on cell lines—cells removed from the human body and grown in petri dishes. But as we look to the future, there's a growing realization that cell lines, and other traditional research methods, are becoming outdated. While once a staple in biomedical research, they do not accurately replicate the complexity of human biology, and they fail to capture the diversity and variability that exists in real patients. AI-driven models are capable of moving beyond the limitations of cell lines by integrating data both from research done in cells and tissues removed from the body (in vitro) and from research done in living animals (in vivo). This validation approach, which incorporates multiple data types and sources, allows us to create more reliable and predictive models of human diseases. Science is advancing, and so is regulation. The FDA's recent announcement of plans to phase out animal testing in favor of 'more effective, human-relevant methods' means that we are entering an era where therapies can be tested on human tissue models from the very start. In collaboration with leading academic centers, Owkin has developed a patient-derived, lab-grown organoid (a mini version of a human organ), a breakthrough that brings us closer to faster, more accurate, and humane drug discovery. The combination of clinical data, genomic insights, and AI not only accelerates the development of new treatments but also increases their chances of success in clinical trials. The lab of the future The lab of the future will be one where AI is at the center, guiding discovery, improving precision, and increasing efficiency. Validation using real-world data will allow us to make better decisions and achieve higher rates of success. The traditional research process is being upended by these new technologies, and that's a good thing. The future of medicine will not just rely on human expertise, but on the power of AI and data to transform how we understand and treat disease. AI will deliver transformative therapies at an exponential scale, addressing the complexities of biology that traditional pharmaceutical approaches often cannot solve. Labs will become automated and serve as the ultimate playground for scientists, driving the future of drug discovery by harnessing the full potential of advanced AI systems. In these dynamic labs, organoids and agents will come together to work in synergy, allowing scientists to model and simulate human biology with greater accuracy. AI-driven technology will decipher biological patterns to identify the patients most likely to respond to specific treatments, significantly improving the chances of success in clinical trials and beyond. Seamlessly integrating these cutting-edge tools into the lab environment will transform the way we approach drug discovery, targeting diseases with a level of precision that was previously unimaginable. By pioneering the use of data, biology, and AI to decode the fundamental mechanics of disease and advance medical science, it will be possible to establish a foundation for the future of a 'positive singularity' in medicine. Through this innovative ecosystem, AI can revolutionize medicine. The time to innovate is now, and the possibilities are endless.
Zawya
4 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Jordan: ASEZA approves new agreements to boost research, investment, culture, sports in Aqaba
AMMAN — The Board of Commissioners of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) on Thursday decided to approve an "initial" agreement with the Spanish PharmaMar Company for the Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABD) of scientific research. This decision comes within the authority's vision related to the pillar of sustainable growth, investment encouragement and the development of scientific research, for the purposes of exploration, collection and examination of marine organisms from Jordanian territorial waters. The aim of the decision is to launch biological research and drug discovery, provided that the procedures for obtaining the necessary approvals under the protocol on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilisation to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) No. (20) of 2021 are completed. In regards to the pillar of institutional development and investment promotion, ASEZA decided to approve the amended bylaw for the "temporary" admission of vehicles for the ASEZA, which will provide a number of incentives to investors and companies. This decision comes within the authority's vision to promote investment, enhance Aqaba's position as a "regional" logistics hub, and encourage companies to register and benefit from the investment incentives offered by ASEZA to investors and investment companies. In regards to the pillar of leadership, innovation and community development, ASEZA decided to agree to contribute to supporting a cultural association to organise and establish a forum for art and culture in Aqaba, with the participation of artists from Arab countries. This decision comes within the authority's vision to promote and develop a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in the culture and arts sector, as this forum seeks to promote cultural tourism within the authority's vision to make it an international centre for holding artistic and cultural events. The board also decided to approve the contribution in supporting a sports club in order to participate in the championships of Jordan Football Association in the 2025/2026 football season, through the participation of multiple age groups. The football club aims to encourage sports tourism and support young people in various sports, which contribute to activating the sports and commercial movement in Aqaba. © Copyright The Jordan Times. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BRAIN Biotech Second Quarter 2025 Earnings: €0.14 loss per share (vs €0.088 loss in 2Q 2024)
Revenue: €12.5m (down 14% from 2Q 2024). Net loss: €3.06m (loss widened by 60% from 2Q 2024). €0.14 loss per share (further deteriorated from €0.088 loss in 2Q 2024). AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 8.7% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 3.4% growth forecast for the Chemicals industry in Germany. Performance of the German Chemicals industry. The company's share price is broadly unchanged from a week ago. You still need to take note of risks, for example - BRAIN Biotech has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
