The Drug Discovery World Podcast

Dive into groundbreaking advancements in drug manufacturing, with major investments from AstraZeneca and Biogen leading the charge. Learn about the challenges faced by Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical as the FDA rejects their gene therapy over manufacturing issues. Discover how new UK regulations are reshaping personalized medicine, making treatments like CAR-T more accessible. This overview highlights the exciting shifts in the industry towards innovative manufacturing and tailored patient care.

In the In Conversation With series, a part of the free DDW podcast, DDW speaks with members of the drug discovery industry about their work and how it helps turn science into business.    In this episode, Megan Thomas is in conversation with Thijs Spoor, CEO of the radiopharma company Perspective Therapeutics. The conversation covers how Perspective is advancing alpha-emitting radiopharmaceuticals to transform cancer treatment, with Spoor discussing the scientific, regulatory, and commercial challenges shaping the future of personalised oncology. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. This week’s news highlights reflect the incredible levels of innovation and investment, but also the hurdles to overcome, in developing gene therapies – breakthrough treatments in many genetic diseases that can bring their own unique challenges in terms of manufacturing, delivery and safety risks. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

This is the latest episode of the free DDW narrated podcast, titled “Innovative applications of AI in drug discovery”, which covers two articles written for DDW Volume 24 – Issue 4, Fall 2023. They are called: “Decoding diseases: The AI renaissance in clinical trials” and “Advancing antibody discovery with AI”.  In the first article, Deepika Khedekar, Associate Centralized Clinical Lead at IQVIA, explains how artificial intelligence could make clinical trials more accurate, accessible and standardised. In the second article, DDW Editor Reece Armstrong, speaks to Kashif Sadiq, Founder of DenovAI Biotech about the importance of computational methods in this field.

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. This week our news highlights focus on the drug discovery in the European Union, including some new regulatory approvals from the European Commission, advancements from Netherlands-based argenx, a new PhD programme in Estonia, and Switzerland’s evolution as a deep tech leader. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. In significant news this week, the FDA in the US has removed red tape that limits which centres could give CAR-T therapy, in a move to improve access to the therapies. The round-up this time focuses on other developments in cell and gene therapies (CGT) including two high profile acquisitions. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

This is the latest episode of the free DDW narrated podcast, titled "UK Spotlight: Innovation and discovery”, which covers three articles written for DDW Volume 24 – Issue 4, Fall 2023. They are called: “Where is the drug discovery expertise happening in the UK?”, “From the top: Dr Martin Main, Medicines Discovery Catapult”, and “Meet the Researcher: Molly Stevens, Oxford University and Imperial”. In the first article, I highlight the research taking place and where this is happening in the UK, a long-established hub for drug discovery expertise worldwide.  In the second article, I spoke with Dr Martin Main, Chief Scientific Officer, Medicines Discovery Catapult, in the From the Top series.   In the third article, I spoke with Molly Stevens, John Black Professor at Oxford University and Research Director for Biomedical Materials at Imperial College London, as part of the Meet the Researcher series.

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. As we announce the DDW ‘Creating cures’ programme at SLAS2026, the week’s news highlights emphasise the importance of advanced technologies to the success of drug discovery, including digital control arms for clinical studies, nanobody-based imaging, and new applications for artificial intelligence (AI). You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

In the In Conversation With series, a part of the free DDW podcast, DDW speaks with members of the drug discovery industry about their work and how it helps turn science into business.    In this episode, Megan Thomas is in conversation with Professor Jonathan Kagan, a Harvard immunology professor and director of Basic Research at Boston Children’s Hospital. He’s also the founder of Corner Therapeutics, a biotech startup launched this year with $54 million in funding to develop revolutionary vaccines designed to tackle a virtually unlimited range of diseases, including cancer, HIV, and Covid. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts. 

The latest episode of the DDW Highlights podcast is now available to listen to below. DDW’s Megan Thomas narrates five key stories of the week to keep DDW subscribers up-to-date on the latest industry updates. In the same week DDW shared expert insights from the 2025 ASCO annual meeting, there have been several significant developments in oncology drug discovery, including new therapy options for some difficult to treat cancers. You can listen below, or find The Drug Discovery World Podcast on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts.