Through an Israeli innovation lab, four big pharma companies are fostering AI-driven start-ups to help solve industry problems.

The Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research briefed US Congress on participation by Black patients in sarcoidosis and other rare disease trials. Also, the US FDA issued a draft guidance on psychedelic drug trials; Insilico is taking its AI-discovered IPF drug into Phase II; and Compugen and Jasper dosed patients in their oncology trials.

The promise of TIGIT as an oncology target in combination with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors has prompted an influx of investment into anti-TIGIT agents and five agents are already in advanced clinical trials. That initial enthusiasm has been dampened as of late, after disappointing Phase III data. Investors are hoping that 2023 will be the year that restores hope in the anti-TIGIT pipeline. 

The small-cap biotech is not currently favored by investors but CEO Anat Cohen-Dayag tells Scrip she believes Compugen could have the optimal TIGIT strategy.