Historic Biotech IPO, Merck, Protillion’s AI Deal, Testing a Lassa–Rabies Vaccine
The episode opens with a deep dive into historic biotech IPOs, highlighting Parabolus Medicines' record‑breaking $770.5 million offering and its plans to fund the development of its lead ADC candidate, Zolucatatide, targeting beta‑catenin. The conversation then shifts to Merck’s expanding AI partnership portfolio, especially its multi‑target collaboration with Protillion Biosciences, which could yield up to $510 million in milestones and showcases AI‑driven antibody discovery. Finally, the team discusses early human trial data for a dual Lassa‑rabies vaccine (Lassa‑RAB), which demonstrated safety and robust immune responses in 54 volunteers, offering a freeze‑dryable solution for endemic regions. Throughout, the editors provide expert perspectives on the implications of AI in drug discovery and the promise of novel vaccine platforms.
Remembering J. Craig Venter, PhD
In this tribute episode of Touching Base, host Corinna Singelman and Gen editors John Sterling and Kevin Davis reflect on the life and legacy of biotech pioneer J. Craig Venter, who recently died at 79. They recount Venter's groundbreaking role...
AI in Oncology Takes Off, Tackling HIV and Liver Disease, Pharma’s Recent Gains
The episode recaps highlights from the AACR conference, emphasizing that AI is moving from pre‑clinical research into clinical oncology, but adoption is hampered by low digital pathology uptake (under 10% of U.S. labs), trust issues, and infrastructure costs. It then...
Drugs From a Text Prompt, Wegovy Pill Competition Dampens Lilly’s Surge
In this episode of Touching Base, the GEN editors discuss how AI agents are accelerating scientific discovery, highlighting startups like Latent Labs that can design therapeutic antibodies from a simple text prompt and LabOS, an extended‑reality platform that integrates AI,...
Agentic AI, Virtual Cell, LNP Vaccine Boosters, Engineered Organs, and Mergers
In this episode of Touching Base, the Gen editorial team discusses the latest advances in AI for life sciences, including NVIDIA’s GTC announcements on agentic AI, the deployment of 3,500 GPUs by Roche, and the emergence of open‑source autonomous agents...
AI for Scientists, FDA Reverses Course, and Advances in Cancer Therapeutics
The episode covers three main business stories: Tamarin Bio’s $13.6M Series A to build an AI model‑coordination platform that makes tools like AlphaFold accessible to wet‑lab biologists; the FDA’s reversal on Moderna’s mRNA‑1010 seasonal flu vaccine, spurring a modest stock...
Women in Science, Robotics, Automation, SLAS, and Lilly Updates
The episode opens with a celebration of Women in Science Day, highlighting the historic origin of the term “scientist” and the push for greater female leadership in biotech. Medra CEO Michelle Lee discusses how the company is merging robotics with...
Editors’ Choice: Top Stories of 2025
In the year‑end episode, GEN editors review six headline biotech stories, highlighting AI’s expanding role in drug discovery, a landmark success for Baby KJ in cell‑gene therapy, and the turbulent year for Sarepta’s DMD gene therapy Elevidys, including patient deaths...