With 70 clinical trials now underway on a “next generation” of more precisely targeted antibody drug conjugates, In Vivo profiles Ambrx and Sutro Biopharma, two smaller biotechs with promising technologies and powerful partners that augment their strong science with disease awareness, deep commercial networks and global geographic reach.

In this latest edition of the Lab Links series on notable figures responsible for major advances in drug discovery, In Vivo talks to Harvard Medical School professor and biologist Timothy Springer on his 50-year record as an academic scientist, business entrepreneur and philanthropist. His latest venture is being co-founder – and principal funder – of the independent non-profit Institute for Protein Innovation, an institution designed to fill a critical niche in open-source biomedical research.

Disruptions in the supply/demand configuration of generic drugs have plagued US health care for years. Picket Pharmaceuticals, a new start-up founded by a biostatistician veteran of Africa’s war on HIV, is using the illuminating powers of big data to stabilize the generics supply chain and find untapped areas of value among thousands of products in a business that remains a mystery to physicians, payers and patients alike.