Biosimulation
What is Biosimulation?
Biosimulation is a computer-aided mathematical modeling to study how the human body works and how drugs help or harm us. It is like creating a virtual model of the human body that can be used to understand how diseases develop and how different drugs might affect the body. By simulating real-life processes inside the body, biosimulation can help researchers test various scenarios and see how the body reacts in different situations. This can help them develop new drugs and treatments that are safer and more effective.
Why is Biosimulation Important?
Biosimulation is the process of simulating the dynamics of biological systems using mathematical expressions on modern computers. It helps analyze and predict system behavior, which is valuable in understanding the clinical outcomes of drug discovery or development before any human trials. The pharmaceutical industry has adopted modeling and simulation to understand the complexity of human physiology and predict the response to therapies.
Biosimulation employs various models, tools, and languages to capture and process different aspects of biological processes. The drug discovery process, from discovering a new drug molecule to registering it for marketing and commercialization, is very complex and lengthy. It can take over 10 years from discovery to manufacturing and distribution of a drug to patients. However, biosimulation can accelerate the drug discovery process, which typically takes 3 – 6 years of the overall timeline, thus reducing the cost and time of discovering high-quality drugs.
How Does Biosimulation work?
Advancements in technology have allowed virtual clinical trials of pharmaceutical drugs using computer disease simulations. Using virtual patients instead of actual patients in clinical research has proven to be a cost-effective and time-efficient solution for pharmaceutical companies trying discover new drugs and bring them to market.
Biosimulation software plays a crucial role in drug research and development. It covers various areas, including molecular modeling and simulation, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modeling and simulation, toxicity prediction software, physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling and simulation (PBPK), and trial design software. Additionally, the merging applications of biosimulation in industries such as defense, industrial bioprocessing, nutraceuticals, and agri-food production present significant opportunities for biomedical researchers to build and manage complex biosimulation systems.
Biosimulation with Cadence
Cadence acquired OpenEye Scientific to expand into the fields of biosimulation and drug discovery. Biosimulation is a rapidly growing field within life sciences, which is driving pharmaceutical innovation and can revolutionize the drug development process.
While research and development (R&D) investments remain high, the number of FDA-approved molecules is declining by half every nine years, making it necessary to find new ways to streamline the traditionally long and complex drug discovery process. Biosimulation involves using computational techniques to study the 3D structure of molecules, which is a significant factor fostering growth in this field.
Cadence's acquisition of OpenEye, with its molecular modeling and simulation expertise, algorithmic proficiency, and vast datasets, could significantly enhance the speed and accuracy of biosimulations, thereby improving the efficiency and success rate of the drug discovery process. Cadence's solver, AI/ML leadership, and OpenEye's innovative molecular modeling and simulation software solutions will enable pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to benefit from more robust drug discovery solutions that combine computational expertise with efficient, extensive data management infrastructure and leading cloud solutions.
Orion is a software cloud platform that meets molecular design and simulation needs. It provides everything you need to calculate and make predictions, analyze results, share your conclusions, and make decisions, all through a single web browser interface. With Orion, you can explore further and faster by delivering trusted science through a robust, highly scalable cloud platform.