× Medicines Discovery Catapult

Writing a winning grant application

Bidding for grants and funding can be a very frustrating, tiresome and demoralising process. Hours can be wasted putting pen to paper, just so your dreams can be shattered months later after “so-called” experts and faceless bureaucrats tear your hard work apart. Of course, this is all part of the democratic process required to justify […]

Read more

On-demand sampling

The majority of biobank samples are collected as surgical excess, diagnostic remnants or post mortem tissue. While all of these sources are extremely valuable, they each have limitations. Surgical excess and diagnostic samples come from diseased patients, often cancer donors, and the closest to a ‘normal’ sample is adjacent tissue – that is, tissue obtained […]

Read more

Virtual Biobanks

Virtual biobanks do not store samples but provide a single point of access to a range of biospecimens using networks of ethical sources. They source tissues to client specifications – thereby streamlining the procurement of tissue to the benefit of all parties. Real and virtual biobanks have a two-way relationship that works to the advantage […]

Read more

The rise of Biobanks

High quality human tissue samples have become the gold standard for biomedical research, and reliable access to such material is a critical resource for many companies. In addition, the rapid growth of translational research and personalised medicine has further increased demand for human biological samples. Biobanking has been identified as a key area to accelerate […]

Read more

Patients band together to develop their own drugs

A real-world case study to set the scene Timothy Omer is a Type 1 diabetic and a ‘health hacker’. He, and others affected by this debilitating condition, have banded together under the #WeAreNotWaiting banner to develop their own solutions to their health issues. They have lost patience with an industry apparently failing to find answers […]

Read more

Keeping secrets in drug discovery

SMEs in the life sciences sector are the lifeblood of new innovations. If that’s you, it means that some of your most valuable assets will be your intellectual property and know-how. Most likely, you will have inventions which you are looking to patent, and other key confidential information. Inventions It is important to keep your […]

Read more

Putting the human back into medicines discovery

Is there something missing from your research? The need to humanise drug discovery was highlighted in the State of the Discovery Nation report. This is not surprising given that from the 63% of drugs that pass Phase I safety, only 31% pass Phase II human proof of concept and only 50% pass on through Phase […]

Read more

Biotech faces brighter, if more complex future

The world’s biotech community came together at BIO in San Diego last week. And, above the usual clamour of countries competing to promote their sectors – and their national cultures and delicacies (the Czech Republic even had a folk singer in national costume!) – I heard three big themes, each of which makes life more complex […]

Read more

The importance of collaboration

A guest blog from Aisling Burnand, CEO of The Association of Medical Research Charities Collaboration can make all the difference to patients and their loved ones, and we need to work together to make it happen. I see collaboration as a powerful antidote to the challenges and barriers that face all of us in the […]

Read more

Science & Technology

Informatics

Virtual R&D

Discovery Syndicates

Samples and Data