The pharmaceutical industry faces a number of severe problems; chief among them is the rapidly escalating cost of discovering and developing new therapeutics, estimated to cost anywhere between $802 million (Tufts) to $1.2 Billion (Bain) for a marketed product. The main culprit behind this high cost is biological complexity: the theoretical and experimental paradigms underlying current pharma research methods are poorly suited to deal with the complex biological networks underlying most human diseases.
Effective drug development requires a new methodology for drug discovery, one that takes into account the tremendous biological complexity underlying chronic disease. Genescient has first-mover advantage here, and has unique tools under development to tackle the problem.
The only method that can address the drug development problem in a systematic way is the combination of genomics, experimental evolution, and artificial intelligence-based data analysis. Genescient is pioneering the integration of these three 21st century tools in its work with populations of fruit flies bred for long life and improved health. As a result of this work, the firm is uniquely positioned to be the first to truly overcome the problems plaguing the biopharma industry.
Genescient’s approach is applicable to a variety of human diseases, but our current research focuses on cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, and sepsis. We have already made novel discoveries regarding which genes and networks relate to these diseases, including many involving genes with human orthologs. These discoveries provide fertile ground for development of novel therapeutics.