Haystack Science’s team consists of thought leaders who routinely make contributions to high-profile, peer-reviewed journals. Below are some examples.
Rally around the therapeutic hub. Marshall, A. & López, J. C. Nature Biotechnology 44: 345–349 (2026)
Most of the world’s diseases have been forgotten by commercial drug development. Patient advocacy groups must look to new types of partnerships to develop therapies. Here we present a new model to increase probability of success.
AI turbocharges antibody hunt for binders with drug-like qualities. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 44: 334–337 (2026)
Startups are providing glimpses of AI-assisted antibody discovery and claiming game-changing potential, but new models remain hidden. Industry awaits full disclosure for proper benchmarking.
In vivo CAR-Ts captivate big pharma. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 43: 1893–1896 (2025)
In-body manufacturing would represent a faster, cheaper and simpler alternative to CAR-T cell therapy, provided that the field delivers compelling evidence of long-term safety and efficacy.
Drugmakers share data to feed voracious foundation models. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 43: 1743–1746 (2025)
Big pharma shares its machine learning models with biotechs, but awaits definitive data on the success of artificial intelligence-generated drugs.
Regenerative cell therapy marches into corneal blindness. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 43: 1401–1404 (2025)
Regenerative cell therapies represent new options for patients facing a choice between invasive surgery or blindness.
Merck’s anti-RSV antibody expands protection for infants. Marshall, A. & Nording L. Nature Biotechnology 43: 837–840 (2025)
Merck’s new antibody clesrovimab and other long-lasting shots promise to expand and simplify care of newborns to combat respiratory syncytial virus.
Drug development for neglected ultra-rare diseases of no commercial interest: challenges and opportunities. Katakowski, J. A. & López, J. C. Drug Discovery Today 30: 104346 (2025)
Ultra-rare diseases are of little interest to the pharmaceutical industry. Patient-led organizations often fund the early-stage development of ultra-rare therapies, but the difficult path to translate academic studies into approved medicines means that very few therapies ever reach patients. What are the roadblocks to the development of therapeutics for conditions of limited commercial interest and how can they be overcome?
Mismatch repair inhibitors lift off in Huntington’s. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 43: 458–461 (2025).
Startups targeting DNA repair seek to build on recent findings that neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease is triggered only after CAG triplet repeats reach a critical threshold.
Insulin — the new battleground for drug pricing. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 40: 1 (2022).
Outrage over the cost of insulin is driving drug-pricing reform. Industry must do more to support patients dealing with spiraling out-of-pocket costs for biotech medicines.
What you need to know when working with big pharma. López, J. C. Nature Biotechnology 38: 785–787 (2020)
Ask any pharma executive whether their company is interested in academic collaborations and the answer is a resounding “yes.” So why do so few academic institutions have success stories to share? Here we try to answer this nagging question and provide some insights on how to increase the probability of a productive collaboration.
The next biotech superpower. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 37: 1243 (2019).
China is set to challenge the pre-eminence of the US drug market. If it can address gaps in its R&D ecosystem and clinical infrastructure, it may even become a home for biotech innovators.
Harnessing venture philanthropy to accelerate medical progress. López, J. C. & Suojanen, C. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery 18: 809–810 (2019)
Lack of financial and human capital continues to hinder the development of successful biotechnology hubs in most regions of the world. Venture philanthropy, a type of investment that aims to obtain social (as opposed to financial) returns, could be an important part of the solution.
Banking on health. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 37: 197 (2019).
Biomedical research and healthcare has traditionally centered on disease rather than health. Several projects are now collecting data from healthy people with the goal of changing that tradition.
The blind babymaker. Marshall, A. Nature Biotechnology 37: 1 (2019).
The CRISPR baby furor is a clarion call to scientific and government bodies to define acceptable candidate diseases and minimal technical requirements for germline gene editing and to redouble outreach to, and oversight of, IVF clinics.