April 6, 2026
Barry Bunin, PhD
Founder & CEO
Collaborative Drug Discovery
“New ‘Cicada’ COVID-19 Sub-variant is Spreading in the U.S.—Here’s What to Know.” That’s the headline for an article in Scientific American about the BA.3.2 variant of the COVID-causing coronavirus. While reportedly still at very low levels in the U.S., experts are concerned it may be resistant to immunity from vaccines or prior infection. The CDC reports that the variant had been detected in 23 countries as of February. The agency’s genomic surveillance program first detected the variant in the U.S. last June in a traveler from the Netherlands. It later showed up in 132 wastewater samples from 25 states, according to the findings, published March 19 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The BA.3.2 variant has 70 to 75 mutations in the genetic sequence of its spike protein relative to the strains that were included in last fall’s COVID vaccine. The report said researchers found the Cicada variant was able to evade antibodies, “highlighting the need for ongoing genomic surveillance and observational evaluations of vaccine and antiviral effectiveness.”
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“Artificial Intelligence as a Disruptive Force in Pharmaceutical Innovation: Transforming Discovery, Development, and Manufacturing” That’s the title of a study published recently on PubMed Central. The study provides a review of the significant advancements enabled by AI, while noting: “Nonetheless, the integration of AI within the pharmaceutical sector encounters persistent obstacles, such as data interoperability and fragmentation, the necessity for model validation and governance to satisfy compliance standards, the potential for bias and accountability concerns, and deficiencies in workforce skills. … These problems are exacerbated by persistent data fragmentation, or ‘data silos.’ Molecular databases, clinical records, and real-world evidence (RWE) are stored on disparate platforms, hindering the interoperability necessary for data-driven decision-making.” This is something the CDD community is well aware of and was the thesis of our recent article in Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News titled “Why Data Infrastructure Determines AI Success in Drug Discovery.”
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“Eli Lilly, Insilico Strike AI Drug Discovery Deal.” The Wall Street Journal carries that headline about a drug-discovery partnership that grants Lilly exclusive worldwide rights to a portfolio of programs across multiple therapeutic areas. The article says Eli Lilly will obtain exclusive worldwide rights to manufacture and sell best-in-class oral treatments across multiple therapeutic areas discovered using Insilico’s artificial intelligence model, Pharma.AI. The companies will also work on multiple research-and-development programs focused on targets selected by Lilly. Insilico, which conducts its drug R&D in China and is backed by Hong Kong government’s investment arm, is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and has operations across North America, Greater China and the Middle East. The deal marks Lilly’s latest effort to tap China’s vast pharmaceutical research base. The article notes the agreement extends Lilly and Insilico’s partnership, which began in 2023, and builds on their AI drug discovery deal announced late last year, valued at up to $100 million.
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Could Eating Tabasco and Chili Peppers Protect Against Alzheimer’s? Too early to tell, but Derek Lowe notes the neurological benefits researchers found when giving mice capsaicin as a TRPV1 agonist that appeared to improve memory function in aged mice. His recent column in Science, headlined “From Gut Bacteria Up to the Brain,” discusses findings from a study published in Nature titled “Intestinal Interoceptive Dysfunction Drives Age-Associated Cognitive Decline.” The study looked at microbiome impact on the vagus nerve gut-to-brain connections. Lowe writes: “This looks to me like a very solid paper where the authors have tried to shore up every step of their hypothesis. Inflammation-driven defects in interoceptive signaling truly does look like a cause of memory decline in mice: but does it work that way in humans? … There’s clearly a lot of work to be done here, and direct pharmacological intervention in these interoceptive pathways could really be beneficial. Starting with more hot sauce, given those capsaicin results? Try it today!”
“Another GLP-1 Weight Loss Pill Gets FDA Approval, and it Has Fewer Restrictions on How it’s Used.” CNN carries that headline about the FDA’s approval of the second GLP-1 pill for weight loss, adding another option to a rapidly growing arsenal of obesity therapies. The orforglipron pill, called Foundayo, is made by Eli Lilly, which also sells the GLP-1 drugs Zepbound for obesity and Mounjaro for diabetes. As CNN notes, those are given as weekly injections and, along with rival drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, have transformed weight-loss and diabetes treatment, with millions of people taking the medicines. Lilly says Foundayo represents an advance because, unlike the Wegovy pill, it can be taken at any time of day and without restrictions on food and water. Dr. Dan Skovronsky, Lilly’s Chief Scientific and Product Officer, told CNN, “We’ve really designed this to fit into people’s lives as easily as possible.”
Barry A. Bunin, PhD, is the Founder & CEO of Collaborative Drug Discovery, which provides a modern approach to drug discovery research informatics trusted globally by thousands of leading researchers. The CDD Vault is a hosted biological and chemical database that securely manages your private and external data.