Transformative science

Home / R&D / Transformative science


The potential of science

From enhancing our understanding of disease biology and discovering new ways to target the drivers of disease, to better predicting clinical success and pioneering new approaches to engagement in the clinic and beyond, we are building and investing in scientific capabilities and technologies to help us advance science and achieve the next wave of breakthroughs.

Guided by our ‘Growth Through Innovation’ strategy, we are committed to investing in these four areas, which will help us in our aspiration to create the greatest and swiftest impact on disease.



Enhancing our understanding of disease biology

We are determined to advance our understanding of disease biology to uncover novel drivers for the diseases we aim to treat, prevent and in the future, cure. Selecting the right target remains the most important decision we make in the drug discovery process. We are investing in multiple approaches to improve this, including genomics, multi-omics, gene and base editing technologies, functional genomics and data science and artificial intelligence (AI).


Creating the next generation of therapeutics

In our quest to transform disease, we believe it is essential to target novel biology we uncover. We are continuing to design new ways to target the drivers of disease to help us create the next generation of therapeutics, going beyond traditional small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and peptides. The diversity of technologies applied in our early pipeline is exemplified by the increased number of new modalities entering clinical development. 30% of our early pipeline now consists of new drug modalities, including oligonucleotides, mRNA, bicyclic peptides and Anticalin® proteins


Better predicting clinical success

In our efforts to improve our ability to predict the clinical success of our candidate drug molecules, we are adopting a range of cutting-edge technologies. For example, humanised models, such as Organ-Chips, 3D bioprinting and organoid models, provide an environment in which human cells behave more like they would in the body, generating data that are more relevant to patients than previous methods. We are also employing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, patient-derived xenograft models, immune immediacy index and mass-spectrometry imaging to help us predict the clinical effectiveness of our candidate drug molecules.


Clinical innovation pioneering new approaches to engagement in the clinic

Digital technologies are creating never-seen-before opportunities to improve clinical practice and engagement both in the clinic and beyond, helping to increase efficiencies and effectiveness for clinicians and support better experiences for patients. For example, digital is enabling us to improve the design and reduce set-up time of our clinical trials. And as our digital capabilities grow, we are able to explore how we can help patients prevent, manage or treat their condition with evidence based, digital therapeutic solutions.


Collaborate with us

We know that however innovative our science is, however effective our medicines and delivery, to achieve all we want to achieve, we cannot do it alone.

Veeva ID: Z4-67686
Date of preparation: August 2024