NIST Collaboration for “Living” Reference Material, Pistoia Alliance’s New Agentic AI Initiative, More
By Bio-IT World Staff
September 25, 2025 | National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has collaborated with biotech company MilliporeSigma and the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) to create a “living” reference material; the Pistoia Alliance plans to establish a new initiative to advance the safe adoption of agentic AI; and more.
Sapio Sciences announced a strategic partnership with Ultima Genomics. The collaboration will make multi-omics workflows more accessible and streamlined for researchers by integrating Sapio’s AI-powered lab informatics solutions with Ultima’s high-throughput, low-cost sequencing platform. Together, the companies will deliver efficient, traceable, and unified workflows for multi-omics research and clinical genomics. Press release.
Sapio Sciences has also launched the world’s first 3rd-generation Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) that thinks like a scientist, Sapio ELaiN. As the first AI Laboratory Notebook (AILN), Sapio ELaiN accelerates biopharma R&D by moving beyond passive record-keeping to become an active participant in research. Sapio ELaiN leverages agentic and generative AI to work as a co-scientist that helps plan, design, and analyze experiments while maintaining scientific rigor and compliance. Press release.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) are investing in eight joint research projects that could lead to breakthroughs in quantum computing, ultra-precise navigation, and secure communications. The effort is supported by $4.7 million from NSF and $5.6 million from UKRI's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The partnership underscores the growing international momentum in quantum research, with the potential to create new and different types of molecular-based qubits and other fundamental components useful for quantum computing, quantum sensing and quantum communications. Press release.
Certara announced the launch of Libra, an AI-powered tool for predicting drug-induced liver injury (DILI) to help companies improve safety predictions and optimize R&D portfolios early in drug discovery. DILI is a major cause of costly late-stage failures and safety concerns. Integrated within ToxStudio, Libra is an intuitive tool that enables researchers to more economically make early data-driven decisions. Libra offers advanced analytics and minimizes reliance on traditional in vivo testing, which is in accordance with the FDA’s 2025 roadmap on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs). Press release.
To support the manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have collaborated with biotech company MilliporeSigma and the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) to develop a “living” reference material: specially tailored living cells that make mAbs with well-known properties. Called NISTCHO, the “living” reference material will help the biopharmaceutical industry develop new drugs more quickly and ensure that they are safe and effective. Press release.
Beckman Coulter Life Sciences has entered a strategic collaboration with Hombrechtikon Systems Engineering•AG (HSE•AG). This partnership updates and miniaturizes traditional nucleic acid quantification, powered by an automation-first approach that integrates high-throughput liquid handling directly into molecular biology workflows. By streamlining critical processes, it bridges existing workflow gaps and empowers real-time, data-driven decision-making within a unified platform. The partnership also simplifies fluorometric analysis of nucleic acid quantification, delivering results in as little as 20 minutes for 96 samples. Press release.
The Pistoia Alliance has plans to establish a new initiative to advance the safe adoption of agentic AI. The agentic AI project will bring together experts from pharma, biotech and technology companies to shape standards and protocols for AI agents. Initial seed funding has been provided by Genentech, and the Alliance is now seeking additional project sponsors. The initiative sits under the Alliance’s strategic priority to Harness AI to Expedite R&D and alongside its AI/ML Community of Experts, which is actively seeking further funding to continue supporting responsible AI adoption across the industry. Press release.
EpiCypher has launched CUTANA Fiber-seq, a groundbreaking multiomic genomics platform that captures both genomic and epigenomic information in a single long-read sequencing assay. This first-of-its-kind technology delivers unprecedented resolution of DNA sequence and chromatin features along individual DNA molecules, opening an entirely new dimension of genome biology with wide-ranging applications in basic research, drug discovery, and clinical medicine. Press release.
EpiCypher has also joined the PacBio Compatible program. The partnership brings EpiCypher’s CUTANA Hia5 enzyme to market for use with Fiber-seq assays on PacBio HiFi sequencing systems, giving researchers a new way to see chromatin biology at single-molecule resolution. By combining PacBio HiFi sequencing with EpiCypher’s Hia5 enzyme, researchers can now explore how DNA is regulated at the level of individual molecules to better connect genetic variation directly to gene regulation; interrogate complex regions of the genome that short-read approaches cannot resolve, including sequences tied to rare disease and other conditions; and consolidate multiple assays into one workflow, saving time and resources while delivering richer, more complete data. Press release.
Elsevier launched PharmaPendium AI, a generative AI assistant for regulatory intelligence in drug development. PharmaPendium AI, layered on top of PharmaPendium, the company’s regulatory tool, delivers citation-backed answers to complex regulatory questions in seconds, helping users move faster with greater confidence. It streamlines the discovery and contextualization of actionable insights using retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and natural language processing. The solution is designed to transform how regulatory affairs professionals, preclinical, and clinical researchers access and apply information from US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) regulatory documents. Press release.
CN Bio announced the expansion of its Contract Research Services (CRS) with new PhysioMimix computational modeling tools. These capabilities have been developed to enhance Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion (ADME) profiling, for accelerated drug discovery and development workflows. This launch represents the Company's new in silico tools available to customers and is designed to enhance data generation from its range of predictive in vitro tools. Press release.
Siemens is collaborating with Snowflake to help manufacturers unlock new levels of operational efficiency, scale and AI-driven insights. The collaboration enables mutual customers across the globe to connect their operational technology (OT) data from the shop floor with information technology (IT) data, such as supply chain management and financial data. Press release.
Revvity announced a strategic collaboration with Profluent, bringing together Profluent’s novel AI-engineered enzymes with Revvity’s established Pin-point base editing platform. The result is simplified access for customers to a therapeutically relevant base editing toolkit. This new Pin-point configuration allows for increased precision and efficiency, with some combinations being precise to single nucleotide edits without bystander editing. Additionally, the Pin-point platform’s modular design has shown delivery of ultra-low amounts of deaminase while maintaining clinically-relevant levels of base editing and reducing off-target activity, which leads to enhanced safety. Press release.