Touching Base (GEN Podcasts)
Editors’ Choice: Top Stories of 2025
Touching Base (GEN Podcasts)
•December 18, 2025•41 min
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Touching Base (GEN Podcasts)•Dec 18, 2025
Key Takeaways
- •BoltzGen advances AI from prediction to de novo drug design.
- •Gene therapy trials face safety setbacks, prompting regulatory scrutiny.
- •African biomanufacturing hubs aim to reduce drug import dependence.
- •AI models predict complex molecular interactions, accelerating discovery pipelines.
- •Industry wrestles with ethical, timeline challenges of AI therapeutics.
Pulse Analysis
The 2025 roundup highlighted a watershed moment for artificial intelligence in drug discovery. MIT and Recursion’s Bolts 2 built on AlphaFold 3’s ability to model protein‑nucleic‑acid interactions, while the new BoltzGen extension shifted from pure prediction to generative design of novel molecules. Editors emphasized that these models promise faster, cheaper pipelines, yet warned that clinical translation remains years away, as pre‑clinical leads must still navigate rigorous trials.
Gene‑editing and gene‑therapy stories dominated the second segment, from the life‑saving KJ base‑editing case to the turbulent Huntington’s trial by Unicure and the tragic Elevidis deaths at Sarepta. The FDA’s rapid, sometimes contradictory, responses underscored heightened regulatory vigilance and the ethical stakes of treating rare diseases. Reporters stressed the need for transparent safety data and balanced risk communication as the field matures.
A third theme traced the surge in African biomanufacturing initiatives. With half of the continent’s 1.1 billion people lacking essential medicines, local production hubs in Egypt, Morocco, Kenya and elsewhere aim to cut reliance on imports, lower costs, and bolster pandemic resilience. Partnerships with global CDMOs and vaccine‑biotech firms signal growing investor confidence, but analysts caution that fragmented capacity could hinder rapid crisis response. Together, these narratives illustrate how AI, gene therapy, and regional manufacturing are reshaping the global health landscape for the coming decade.
Episode Description
In the final episode of 2025, the GEN team came together to reflect on some of the stories over the last year that they each found impactful. Some of the stories were covered in GEN’s December issue, but our editors took the time to discuss some topics in a bit more depth during the podcast. The discussion began with an update on the progress of AI use in drug discovery. Cell and gene therapy was a big topic with the positive outcome for Baby KJ, while Sarepta dealt with a rollercoaster of a year with their DMD treatment, Elevidys. Research and biotech in Africa are growing and the discussion ranged from challenges to promise in research and development on the continent. This year’s NIH budget cuts and impacted institutions rounded out the conversation.
Join GEN editors Corinna Singleman, PhD, Alex Philippidis, Fay Lin, Phd, Kevin Davies, Phd, John Sterling, 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:
GEN Editors Reflect on Six of the Biggest Stories of the Year
By Alex Philippidis, Savannah Wiegel, Fay Lin, PhD, Kevin Davies, PhD, Uduak Thomas, and Julianna LeMieux, PhD, GEN, December 4, 2025
StockWatch: Sarepta Says Deaths of Two Elevidys Patients Posted on FDA Database Unrelated to Treatment
By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, August 10
StockWatch: As Prasad Exits FDA, Analysts See Benefit for Sarepta, CGT Stocks
By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, August 3
FDA Probes Death of Brazilian Boy Linked to Sarepta’s Elevidys
GEN Edge, July 27
Second DMD Patient Dies After Treatment with Sarepta Gene Therapy
By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, June 15
DMD Patient Dies After Treatment with Sarepta Gene Therapy
By Alex Philippidis, GEN Edge, March 18
From The Editor in Chief
John Sterling, December Issue of GEN
Gene Therapy in Africa
The State of CRISPR & Genome Editing Summit, June 11, 2025
TOP 50 NIH
By Alex Philippidis, GEN, December 4, 2025
FDA Cell & Gene Therapy roundtable: Cell and Gene Therapy Leaders Tell FDA: “Believe in American Solutions”
By Alex Philippidis, and Kevin Davies, PhD, GEN Edge, June 5, 2025
Scientists in NYC Rally to Defend and Stand Up for Science
By Corinna Singleman, GEN, March 10, 2025
Touching Base Podcast
Hosted by Corinna Singleman, PhD
Behind the Breakthroughs
Hosted by Jonathan D. Grinstein, PhD
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Show Notes
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