BioMed X, a leading innovation hub for pharma, has announced the launch of its first research project in partnership with the Government of Barbados and with support from the European Union’s PharmaNext Programme.

The new global call for research proposals, entitled ‘AI-Enabled Therapy of Early Diabetic Kidney Disease in Barbados’, addresses one of the most pressing and underexplored challenges in cardiometabolic disease: the biological heterogeneity of early diabetic kidney disease in the Barbadian population.

The objective of this project is to understand the molecular mechanisms driving early diabetic kidney disease in individuals with Type 2 Diabetes in Barbados through deep molecular profiling and advanced AI-based modelling.

By combining multilayer molecular characterisation of Barbadian patients and healthy controls with AI-driven modelling, the project aims to construct a population-specific digital African twin. This model is intended to enable refined patient stratification, improved biomarker discovery and adaptive, data-driven therapeutic strategies.

Leisel Juman, CEO of BioMed X Barbados, commented: “By partnering directly with the Government of Barbados and with support from the European Union, we are applying our global talent-sourcing and incubation model to a real-world public health challenge in an underrepresented population.”

The initiative marks an important milestone for BioMed X, extending its established collaboration model into a direct partnership with a national government. Jonathan Reid, Minister of Innovation, Industry, Science and Technology, added: “This launch reflects our commitment to positioning science and technology at the heart of Barbados’ future.”

Fiona Ramsey, EU Ambassador to Barbados, explained: “Through the PharmaNext Programme, the European Union is committed to supporting innovative research partnerships that address global health challenges while strengthening scientific capacity.”

AAX Biotech, a biotechnology company specialising in antibody therapeutics, and Vascurie, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for central nervous system tumours, have announced a new collaboration in the field of neuro-oncology.

The collaboration will use AAX’s Seqitope platform and automation infrastructure to speed up the characterisation of therapeutic antibodies. AAX will use Seqitope, which has the capacity for high-throughput epitope mapping, to characterise Vascurie’s established antibody candidates against CD93, a new neuro-oncology drug target.

Seqitope integrates both amino acid-level epitope insights and the capability to process a significant number of antibodies simultaneously. This aids and accelerates the development of new therapies. Additionally, following demand for technologies that accelerate drug discovery, AAX has installed an advanced automation robot to assist with data workflows.

The newly announced collaboration with Vascurie will utilise all of AAX’s expanded capabilities in antibody characterisation.

Daniel X Johansson, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of AAX, said: “The ability to generate high-resolution epitope data at true high-throughput represents a significant advance for antibody discovery and development. With Seqitope and our new robotic platform, we can now characterise up to 100 antibodies in parallel, providing Vascurie with rapid, high-quality insights to support its neuro-oncology programmes.”

Vascurie’s lead candidate VDL-309, which targets CD93, is currently undergoing preclinical studies and could be used to treat high-grade gliomas and brain metastases. The company aims to submit Investigational New Drug (IND) and Clinical Trial Applications (CTA) to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for VDL-309 in 2027.

“This collaboration strategically accelerates our initiative to develop monoclonal antibodies targeting CD93,” said Jonas Ekblom, CEO of Vascurie. “By enabling multiplex parallel analysis of our proprietary molecules, this comprehensive approach will rapidly generate critical insights into the molecular pharmacology of our lead candidate, VDL-309, and other antibodies with distinct biomedical properties.”