The partnership between Oxford University and SEEQC promises to accelerate the use of quantum computing within pharmaceutical research in order to reduce the development time required for drug production worldwide.
Oxford University has joined a consortium led by the digital quantum computing company, SEEQC, to build and deliver a full-stack quantum computer for pharmaceutical drug development for Merck KGaA.
The consortium has been awarded a £6.85m grant, by Innovate UK’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to build a commercially scalable quantum computer designed to tackle prohibitively high costs within pharmaceutical drug development.
Matthew Hutchings, co-founder and chief product officer at SEEQC, shared: “Today, drug discovery is a labour and time-intensive iterative process with immense costs. Thanks to our world-leading partners and the invaluable commercial benchmarking by our end-customers at Merck, we have the opportunity to develop a quantum computing platform that can radically improve the efficiency of drug development.”
The partnership will accelerate the use of quantum computing within pharmaceutical research to dramatically reduce the time required for drug development on a global scale.
Read more: https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/oxford_joins_consortium_to_advance_quantum_drug_discovery_1386106

Advances in treatment 

The test is a technological first in determining the metastatic status of a cancer without using prior insight of the primary cancer presented.
Cancer researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a new type of blood test, which can be used to detect a range of cancers.
The test can also detect whether these cancers have metastasised in the body and is the first of its kind, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) metabolomics. These identify the presence of biomarkers in the blood called metabolites – small chemicals that our body both naturally produces – which are produced by cancer cells.
The study, published in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research, analysed samples from 300 patients with non-specific but concerning symptoms of cancer.
Non-specific symptoms included fatigue and weight loss and patients were recruited through the Oxfordshire Suspected Cancer (SCAN) pathway. Cancer was correctly detected in 19 out of every 20 patients with cancer and among those with cancer, metastatic disease was identified with an overall accuracy of 94%.
This is the first technology able to determine the metastatic status of a cancer from a blood test, without prior knowledge of the primary cancer type. It is hoped the test will help clinicians detect cancer and assess cancer stage.
Read more: https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/new_blood_test_can_identify_presence_of_cancer_1385916

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The proportion of pharmaceutical companies hiring for internet of things related positions rose in November 2021 compared with the equivalent month last year, with 16.9% of the companies included in our analysis recruiting for at least one such position.
This latest figure was higher than the 13.9% of companies who were hiring for internet of things related jobs a year ago but a decrease compared to the figure of 17.3% in October 2021.
When it came to the rate of all job openings that were linked to internet of things, related job postings dropped in November 2021, with 0.4% of newly posted job advertisements being linked to the topic.
This latest figure was the lowest monthly figure recorded in the past year and is a decrease compared to the 0.7% of newly advertised jobs that were linked to internet of things in the equivlent month a year ago.
Internet of things is one of the topics that GlobalData, from whom our data for this article is taken, have identified as being a key disruptive force facing companies in the coming years. Companies that excel and invest in these areas now are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforseen challenges.
Read more: https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/internet-of-things-hiring-levels-in-the-pharmaceutical-industry-rose-in-november-2021/

Calls for booster vaccinations in order to combat the rising cases brought about by winter and the recent Omicron variant have intensified, in the midst of record case rates.
Oxford and AstraZeneca have announced that they have taken ‘preliminary steps’ to produce an updated coronavirus vaccine specifically targeting the Omicron variant. Sandy Douglas, a research group leader at Oxford, shared with the Financial Times (FT) that an updated vaccine could be used to “respond to any new variant more rapidly”.
“Adenovirus-based vaccines (such as that made by Oxford AstraZeneca) could in principle be used to respond to any new variant more rapidly than some may previously have realised,” Douglas told FT. These vaccines, Douglas shared, have “really important advantages, especially where need and logistical challenges are greatest”.
A lab-study last week found that AstraZeneca's antibody cocktail Evusheld retained neutralising activity against the Omicron variant.
Vaccine makers Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna have also previously stated that they were working on Omicron-specific COVID-19 vaccines. Moderna have shared hopes to start clinical trials early next year. Global health authorities, such as European Medicines Agency head, Emer Cooke, have warned that it is currently unknown whether a vaccine for the recently discovered strain will be needed. Cooke has also warned that it could remain unknown for some time whether the Omicron variant will necessitate new vaccine formulations.
Read more: https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/oxford_and_astrazeneca_aim_to_produce_omicron-targeted_version_of_vaccine_1385700

Almost a year ago, Roche’s immune checkpoint inhibitor tiragolumab became the first anti-TIGIT therapy to gain breakthrough designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after more than a decade of research.
The FDA decision was based on data from the phase 2 CITYSCAPE study that is evaluating tiragolumab plus Roche’s PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq (atezolizumab) compared with Tecentriq alone in first-line PD-L1-positive, locally advanced unresectable or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
In January 2021, the data suggested that the combination showed an improvement in overall response rate (ORR) of 37% vs 21% with Tecentriq alone and a 42% reduction in progression-free survival (PFS) over Tecentriq alone after an average of 10.9 months follow-up.
People with high levels of PD-L1 saw a 66% ORR (versus 24% for Tecentriq alone).
Now, Roche has announced longer-term data from the trial that shows ‘encouraging results’ at 2.5 years median follow-up. The intention-to-treat population (ITT) – all randomised study participants – continued to show an improvement. After 2.5 years, tiragolumab and Tecentriq reduced progression-free survival by 38% and improved ORR (38.8% vs 20.6%) compared with Tecentriq alone.
However, this improvement was driven by strong performance in the high PD-L1 population, which showed a 71% reduction in the risk of disease worsening or death and a clinically meaningful improvement in ORR (69% vs 24.1%) compared with Tecentriq alone.
Read more: https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/roches_lung_cancer_combination_treatment_improves_long-term_survival_1385145

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Joshua Yang, Co-founder & CEO of Glyphic Biotechnologies and Co-founder of NephroSant, sat down with me to explore the applications of next-generation protein sequencing for biomedical research and clinical medicine, his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, and much more.

Hector Bremner, CEO of Avricore Health, discusses the benefits of comprehensive point-of-care testing for patient monitoring, real-world studies, and decentralized clinical trials; how his company is working on becoming the world’s largest health data company; and why they’re focusing on pharmacists to achieve this goal.

Job hunting 

Novartis have announced that the investigational oral therapy, iptacopan (LNP023), has been awarded an Innovation Passport for the treatment of C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) by the MHRA, NICE, and the SMC. It is currently being investigated in a number of complement-driven renal diseases(CDRDs), alongside one haematological disorder, for patients with high unmet need.
The Innovation Passport is a designation for innovative medicines. It is the entry point to the Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway (ILAP), a new pathway aiming to accelerate the time taken to market, allowing a more rapid patient access to medicines. A single Innovation Passport can cover multiple future indications for the same active substance.
Iptacopan is an investigational, first-in-class, orally administered factor B inhibitor for the alternative pathway of the complement system. It has the potential to become the first targeted therapy to delay progression to dialysis in C3G, and was discovered at the Novartis Institute for BioMedical research. Novartis has a 35-year history in kidney transplantation treatments, however, iptacopan is the first treatment in the nephrology pipeline addressing CDRDs.
Read more: https://www.pharmatimes.com/news/novartis_uk_awarded_innovation_passport_for_investigational_therapy_1382697

Actively looking for new position 

Hi,   I recently joined PharmeMed and I’m a 3rd year Pharmacy student in the U.K. looking for potential placement, internship,part time job opportunities in my field. I am also available to network as well. In my spare time, you can catch me reading novels by African authors and honestly, just scrolling on Tiktok. Feel free to message me. ????????‍♀️