Advancing Medical Research

Fleas seem like just an itchy nuisance for your pets, yet they were responsible for two of the most devastating plagues in human history. The bacteria Yersinia pestis, carried by fleas from rodent to rodent, was responsible for the Plague of Justinian in the sixth century and the Black Death in the 14th century. The Plague of Justinian cost 100 million lives in the Roman Empire, while the impact of the Black Death…

While it may not be a household name, cytomegalovirus (CMV), a member of the herpes virus family, is incredibly common—many people acquire it as toddlers or adolescents, and a majority are infected by adulthood.¹ In most people, CMV is harmless and causes no or few symptoms.² However, it can pose a danger to babies infected in the womb along with immunocompromised adults.²

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By the end of February 2021, just over one year since the novel coronavirus emerged and disrupted our lives, approximately 136 million people worldwide had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.¹ Interestingly, the disruption itself fueled the innovation that allowed such rapid development and deployment of the vaccine. Government issued stay-at-home orders, combined with a desire to protect…

Image: A computer illustration of the production of monoclonal antibodies, a type of biosimilar drug that is used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and other conditions. Getty RF

Biologics are among the most powerful drugs to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases today. Made from living organisms, such as bacteria or yeast, these therapies can specifically target cells or stimulate the immune…

When it comes to understanding the immune system, we’re in the age of a data “traffic jam.” Thanks to advances in gene sequencing technology and decades of research, we’ve amassed a huge trove of information, but utilizing it to drive new insights can be challenging.

A collaboration with Israel-based startup CytoReason is allowing Pfizer scientists to harness computational technology that functions as a “…

Caption: T-cells (orange) can be redirected to engage and destroy cancer cells (blue) through the use of bispecific antibody technology, which enables a bridge to be formed between surface proteins overexpressed on tumor cells and T cells. (Getty/ illustration)

In our immune system, subsets of T-cells exist that are “professional killers”. They’re constantly patrolling the body to eliminate problem…

As Pfizer scientists raced to develop their COVID-19 vaccine at record-breaking speed these past few months, they turned to an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help achieve this mission.

Normally, when a clinical trial or trial phase ends, it can take more than 30 days for the patient data to be “cleaned up,” so scientists can then analyze the results. This process involves data scientists…

In recent years, targeted therapies are among a revolution of new cancer treatments that have helped patients live longer than ever before. But with this success comes new challenges.

Namely, many available cancer therapies can’t effectively treat cancer that has spread to the brain, as they have difficulty crossing over the blood-brain barrier— a tightly packed layer of cells that prevents toxins and other…

As SARS-CoV-2 spreads around the globe, it is mutating, in other words it is acquiring genetic changes.

While the idea of “viral mutation” may sound concerning, it’s important to understand that many of these mutations are minor, and don’t have an overall impact on how fast a virus spreads or potentially how severe a viral infection might be. In fact, some mutations could make the virus less infectious.…