Investing in Biotech and Drug Therapeutics

By Imagine Biotech

With the advent of the FDA Modernization Act 2.0, animal testing is no longer a requirement in the drug development process. While animal rights activists and investors are pleased, some critics worry about the implications in regard to safety and possible toxicity later down the road in clinical trials.

In an age where AI powered preliminary screening tools are able to predict efficacy and toxicity with high accuracy, side-stepping costly and ethically dubious animal testing, one can only wonder how the drug development process will be impacted.

Here are some ways Imagine Biotech views the evolving drug development process from an investors point of view.

1. Improved Efficiency and Reduced Costs 💵 

   • Efficiency, viewed through the lens of an investor as cost effectiveness of a solution, will improve. The cost of running preclinical trials in animals is extremely high and is often time consuming. Running AI powered simulations to check for efficacy and toxicity through a company like Imagine Biotech will drastically reduce the amount of time and money required to determine if a new compound is likely to succeed in clinical trials.

2. Increased Innovation 🖥️ 

   • As the shift from animal testing to ADMET / PK modeling takes place, there will be a prime spot for companies looking to provide scientific due diligence services (that’s us!) to potential investors. The development and proliferation of new software in order to fill this spot will also in turn improve efficiency and reduce costs, a win for everyone involved.

3. Ethical and Public Relations Benefits 🎤 

   • Due to their small size and tame nature, oftentimes beagle dogs are used for animal testing. With 66% of American households owning pets, dogs especially have a soft spot in the general publics heart. A shift from testing on beloved animals towards software simulations provides ample opportunity for companies to improve their public relations and their bottom line.

| 📰 Weekly News 📰 |

Symbiotic Capital raises $600MM 💸 

Symbiotic Capital, a life sciences investment firm based in California and tied to Bellco Capital, an investment firm launched by Arie Belldegrun, serial biotech entrepreneur and founder of Kite Pharma, Vida Ventures, and Allogene Therapeutics, has raised capital in excess of $600MM.

Symbiotic Capital offers to solve the equity demand issue common to new biotech ventures by providing capital on credit, allowing scientists and drug developers to navigate the complexities of drug development without investor influence.

Former Roche CEO Franz Humer, Ph.D., along with Russell Goldsmith, former CEO of City National Bank have also joined the team.

Obesity Drug Trials Continue 💉 

Novo Nordisk, the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy, the weight loss drugs taking the world by storm, has two trials, REDEFINE 1 & 2, currently ongoing and aiming to keep Novo Nordisk at the top of the weight loss drug market. On August 7th, Novo Nordisk missed Wall Street estimates for sales in regard to both Wegovy and Ozempic, possibly providing good ground for other pharmaceutical companies interested in weight loss. Amgen, currently running trial NCT05669599 using an injectable called MariTide. MariTide is similar to Lilly’s Zepbound, acting on the gut hormones GLP-1 and GIP, but works to block the hormones as opposed to simulation like Zepbound. Monthly shots, as opposed to weekly, of MariTide in combination with Phase 1 trial results demonstrating a lose of 15% bodyweight after 85 days in participants who underwent testing with the highest dosage, are confounding factors contributing to investors and Amgen’s belief that there is promise in MariTide.

Likely Delays in Biotech IPOs ⏰ 

Needless to say, the current state of the market, biotech included, is not great. With the DOW sinking more than 1,000 points and the NASDAQ down roughly 5%, one can likely predict that IPOs for biotech companies are going to be delayed. Economic turmoil, regardless of the cause, results in investors holding onto their money a little more tightly and investing in what they view as secure and stable investments, which unfortunately is usually not biotech. While the public markets have been down, there is potential for private investment. One could argue that investors, wanting to have more control over their investments, are likely to put capital towards early stage startups which can be influenced easier, and have more potential for growth, than already established companies.

The Imagine Biotech Solution 🔬 

Imagine Biotech resources can call upon a wide variety of technologies to de-risk your portfolio using sophisticated pathways that have matured due to improved data resources, confounding factors, and improved model assumptions.

Our array of services range from sophisticated molecular modeling density functional methods (DFT) to the first-of-its-kind integration package of ADMET and PK predictions to academic risk.

Imagine Biotech staff have the training, expertise, and knowledge to review the proposed hypotheses (investment) in their entire journey to commercialization and select those tests/technologies to support further investment success or flag issues that arise only in the environment of review by skilled biotechnology experts.

We believe that informed investments are the cornerstone of progress. Our mission is to empower investors with the insights and tools necessary to navigate the complexities of biotech investments with confidence.