Tal Zaks

In fact, the phase three now is enrolling, and hopefully we'll have a personalized cancer vaccine on the market before too soon.

In fact, the phase three now is enrolling, and hopefully we'll have a personalized cancer vaccine on the market before too soon.

So that's still in the future. The way this works is people with early stage cancer, specifically, we started with skin cancer. So cancer has been diagnosed, but it's early. Likely a surgeon will cut it out. And then there's some probability that it will come back. And what can we do to improve the odds that it won't come back?

So that's still in the future. The way this works is people with early stage cancer, specifically, we started with skin cancer. So cancer has been diagnosed, but it's early. Likely a surgeon will cut it out. And then there's some probability that it will come back. And what can we do to improve the odds that it won't come back?

In that context, at least as far as a randomized phase two goes, when you give a personalized vaccine to those patients, it cuts the recurrence rate of cancer by about half, by about 50%, which is quite significant.

In that context, at least as far as a randomized phase two goes, when you give a personalized vaccine to those patients, it cuts the recurrence rate of cancer by about half, by about 50%, which is quite significant.

So I'd break it down to three phases. And I do think that the world is improving. The first phase is, is this target for intervention actually relevant to the disease? That's basic biology. And I think we're making great strides there in understanding biological processes. Some of it is big data. Some of it is just old school grunt work.

So I'd break it down to three phases. And I do think that the world is improving. The first phase is, is this target for intervention actually relevant to the disease? That's basic biology. And I think we're making great strides there in understanding biological processes. Some of it is big data. Some of it is just old school grunt work.

But there's a lot of tools that have been developed that are being deployed that are making this much more accessible. to us understanding disease better. The second has to do with what's called drug discovery. Okay, so I've got a protein whose function I want to alter. What is the ability to actually discover a new chemical entity or a new protein entity or nucleic acid entity that will actually

But there's a lot of tools that have been developed that are being deployed that are making this much more accessible. to us understanding disease better. The second has to do with what's called drug discovery. Okay, so I've got a protein whose function I want to alter. What is the ability to actually discover a new chemical entity or a new protein entity or nucleic acid entity that will actually

interfere there, that will actually do the pharmacological effect. And there, I think you're seeing a very significant deployment of these modern AI tools across the industry now.

interfere there, that will actually do the pharmacological effect. And there, I think you're seeing a very significant deployment of these modern AI tools across the industry now.

And it's very quickly becoming, to a certain degree, commoditized with the advancement of alpha fold predicting protein structures and people applying the same kind of tools into chemical discovery space to come up with new chemistries.

And it's very quickly becoming, to a certain degree, commoditized with the advancement of alpha fold predicting protein structures and people applying the same kind of tools into chemical discovery space to come up with new chemistries.

I've seen people even apply these tools into figuring out these lipid nanoparticles that will shepherd mRNA into different tissues to come up with better formulations and ways of bringing that medicine into the right places in the body. So I think drug discovery is getting a leg up and a significant one from the various applications of AI tools.

I've seen people even apply these tools into figuring out these lipid nanoparticles that will shepherd mRNA into different tissues to come up with better formulations and ways of bringing that medicine into the right places in the body. So I think drug discovery is getting a leg up and a significant one from the various applications of AI tools.

The part where we're still behind is in what's called development or clinical development, putting it in people. There's no shortcut here. We don't have a holistic model of a human being. We have made progress in understanding what natural outcomes are for people with high quality, big data sets that you can apply machine learning tools.

The part where we're still behind is in what's called development or clinical development, putting it in people. There's no shortcut here. We don't have a holistic model of a human being. We have made progress in understanding what natural outcomes are for people with high quality, big data sets that you can apply machine learning tools.

So our ability to predict outcomes on the control arm is getting better. And so people are leveraging those tools to make trials shorter and smaller. But in the end, the gold standard is and will remain, okay, I have to put it in people and see how those people respond and make sure that the people who get this have a better outcome than the people who don't.

So our ability to predict outcomes on the control arm is getting better. And so people are leveraging those tools to make trials shorter and smaller. But in the end, the gold standard is and will remain, okay, I have to put it in people and see how those people respond and make sure that the people who get this have a better outcome than the people who don't.