4 ms·
Biotech startups with a computational method of target discovery that is "different from the norm at Big Pharma" have been around at least since the late 90s.
by bbgm 11y ago
Biotech startups with a computational method of target discovery that is "different from the norm at Big Pharma" have been around at least since the late 90s. The problem is targets are cheap. Validating those targets is expensive and is the rate limiting step. I have no problems with these companies existing. They should and can tackle some hard problems and develop algorithms and methods that are difficult to pursue in Big Pharma. The problem is that too many are presented as silver bullets that will magically cure xyz, and that's just false.
- timr 11y agoYeah, I know what you're saying here, and I don't disagree. I only disagree with the comment that they aren't "doing something new". It's sufficient to do some old thing better in some way that matters to existing customers -- and that's an implementation detail that will never come out of a TechCrunch press release.
- chenja 11y agoWe have been actively validating targets, and in fact Alice's PhD work was centered on performing the in vitro and in vivo validation experiments for computational drug leads. We aren't asking for people to believe in magic, and ultimately we hope that our preclinical experiments will reveal whether or not we have something.