research

Data-driven federated learning in drug discovery with knowledge distillation

Vandenbruaene Nathalie — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 12:00:52 +0000

Data-driven federated learning in drug discovery with knowledge distillation

Yogesh Sabnis, Global CADD and Annie Delaunois, Non clinical Safety Evaluation

Vandenbruaene … Tue 18/03/2025 - 13:00

We’re proud to announce the publication of joint research on FLuID (Federated Learning Using Information Distillation) in Nature Machine Intelligence. This innovative approach has the potential to reshape how industries like pharmaceuticals collaborate while safeguarding sensitive data.

A key challenge for AI in scientific research is accessing high-quality data for impactful models. Valuable knowledge often remains locked in confidential corporate data silos, despite industries being more open to sharing non-competitive insights. Federated learning allows knowledge sharing while preserving data privacy but has limitations.

In the publication we introduce FLuID (federated learning using information distillation) tailored to drug discovery to maintain data privacy. Validated through public data and real-world collaboration among eight pharmaceutical companies, FLuID addresses domain shift challenges and enhances knowledge sharing. This leads to improved models for biological activity predictions, paving the way for a new generation of models with better performance and broader applicability.

Here’s how it works. Instead of sharing raw data, companies train private, local models and use them to annotate a shared public dataset. These annotations are then combined, creating a powerful blend of insights that organizations can leverage collaboratively. The process ensures complete privacy while producing models that outperform those built from individual datasets.

FLuID has already demonstrated its impact. By collaborating, multiple pharmaceutical companies have improved their ability to predict how chemical compounds interact with the human body, helping drive innovation and support drug safety predictions.

With its privacy-first design and scalable framework, we hope FLuID opens the door to ethical, large-scale collaboration across industries, paving the way for smarter, faster discoveries in fields where data security has traditionally been a barrier.

I invite you to explore this achievement and learn how FLuID is setting new standards for innovation in science and beyond by reading the full publication here.

innovation

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Capturing meaningful patient experiences in Parkinson’s research

Vanco Vlastimil (��ֳ� S.A.) — Tue, 19 Jul 2022 11:51:37 +0000

Capturing meaningful patient experiences in Parkinson’s research

Nick Francis, Global Communications & Company Reputation

Vanco Vlastimi… Tue 19/07/2022 - 13:51

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that causes a range of motor and non-motor symptoms that begin gradually and worsen over time. Motor symptoms include unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination. People may also have mental and behavioral changes, sleep problems, depression, memory difficulties, and fatigue.

Capturing the true problems associated with living with PD from the early stages of the disease is critical, as substantial research efforts are ongoing to develop disease modifying therapies, and associated important and meaningful outcome measures for those clinical trials.

Research specifically focused on the experience of people living with early-stage PD is limited and, to date, there is no consensus regarding the definition of early-stage PD among the scientific and regulatory communities. In addition, the clinical outcome assessments, used in clinical trials investigating early-stage PD, do not fully capture the subtle concepts meaningful to people with this disease.

��ֳ� partnered with Parkinson’s UK and the Parkinson’s Foundation to coinvestigate the patient experience in early stages of the disease. Six people living with PD were part of the research team and involved from developing the study design through to analyzing the data.

Interviews with people with the disease and their relatives, were used to identify, those primary symptoms and impacts, which might be more useful to measure in clinical trials.

“Involving patients in research is a symbiotic partnership; this is very much the case in my experience in working with ��ֳ�. Right at the onset, this partnership had been a two-way process,” said Carroll Siu, PD patient expert. “The nurturing and guidance from ��ֳ� in the last 5 years had allowed me to gain knowledge, skills and confidence, which I could now transpose to my engagement in future research projects. ��ֳ� gained from our patient involvement to such an extent that they have formed a Patient Engagement Council for Parkinson’s research by working closely with Parkinson’s charities to involve patients at the heart of future Parkinson’s research.”

We learned that the concepts that were most meaningful to people living with early-stage PD were:

bradykinesia/slowness (notably in the form of ‘functional’ slowness, with being slower at completing tasks reportedly more important than the difficulty of completing tasks)
tremor
rigidity/stiffness
effects on mobility (particularly fine motor/dexterity and subtle gait abnormalities)
fatigue
depression
sleep/dreams
pain

“Incorporating the lived expertise of six people living with Parkinson's added rich insights and key knowledge to this project,” said Karlin Schroeder, Associate Vice President of Community Engagement at the Parkinson's Foundation. “The Parkinson's Foundation is honored to be collaborators in this work, helping to guide patient engagement in research. We look forward to our ongoing work with ��ֳ�, Parkinson's UK and the community to advance science and improve the lives of people with Parkinson's.”

Our study adds to the low amount of qualitative research on early-stage PD. It showed that patient experiences in early-stage PD are complex and wide-ranging, and that currently available patient-reported outcome measures do not evaluate many early-stage PD concepts such as functional slowness, fine motor skills and subtle gait abnormalities. The inclusion of patients in the research team provided a unique perspective based on first-hand experience of how PD affects all aspects of patients’ lives, and how they feel about living with and managing their condition.

Going forward, we need new measures, created in conjunction with people with PD, that fully assesses symptoms and the experience of living with early-stage PD. For more information on the study, you can visit https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40120-022-00375-3.

A plain language summary of the research is now available in Future Medicine. See below to find out more:

Plain language summary: what symptoms should be measured in clinical studies for early-stage Parkinson's? (futuremedicine.com)

solutions

Parkinson's disease Patients research Patient Engagement Council for Parkinson’s Research

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Bringing diverse mindsets together to meet patient needs

eCMSadmin — Mon, 06 Dec 2021 10:30:00 +0000

Bringing diverse mindsets together to meet patient needs

Laetitia Malphettes, Gene Therapy CMC Development Sciences

eCMSadmin Mon 06/12/2021 - 11:30

Over the last few years, the pharmaceutical industry has begun to recognise the importance of fostering a diverse, inclusive, and culturally intelligent environment. Additionally, throughout our industry, there is a unified drive to ensure that people living with diseases are supported to live their best quality of life.

There are many facets to consider to effectively reach these goals. One most notable characteristic is the empathetic nature that companies must pursue to understand patient needs. In order to provide the greatest value for patients, it is vital that our industry recognizes that different patient populations are faced with varying challenges. To become a company that truly appreciates the needs of patients, then we must consider how insights brought through a diverse and inclusive environment can provide the most impact across all aspects of the pharmaceutical value chain.

At ��ֳ�, from research to development and manufacturing, patients are at the heart of everything we do, and we are committed to fostering a supportive, diverse and respectful company culture for all employees, as we believe it helps us to work effectively at the cutting edge of science. Take my gene therapy team. Our composition is made up of a large variety of backgrounds and experiences, and by embracing these diverse talents and experiences, we can maximize the value we create for patients.

��ֳ� is its people – and we are made stronger because of our culture of collaboration and curiosity. We nurture and value diverse perspectives and backgrounds and practice respect and care for each other, for our communities, for our planet and for the people who inspire and define our purpose. We are continually looking for like-minded people to partner with and join our growing team to give us a greater appreciation of each individual reality and create a meaningful difference in the lives of patients.

As we continue to strengthen our gene therapy team, we are looking to attract bright minds who see how science can express our deepest humanity, who push boundaries with purpose and thoughtful intent, who are drawn to discovery and innovation, to create value for people living with severe diseases and want to improve the health and wellbeing of the society in which we live. We value pluralists who bring together purposeful initiatives resulting from true insights, which have their roots in diversity of thought, accountability and a continuous growth mindset.

So, if you are curious, bold, want to make gene therapy happen and like the sound of how our teams tick, then this is the moment to join us. To learn more about working in our gene therapy team visit our recruitment site here.

innovation

Gene therapy research development

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Data-driven federated learning in drug discovery with knowledge distillation

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Capturing meaningful patient experiences in Parkinson’s research

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Bringing diverse mindsets together to meet patient needs

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