The COVID-19 pandemic drove huge shifts in clinical trial practice and the transformation is expected to continue even after the global health emergency abates. Industry leaders sharing their predictions around clinical development homed in on decentralized trials, digitization and data tools as key topics for 2022.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, Orphan Drugs, features profiles of Amicus Therapeutics Inc., Myomatrix Therapeutics LLC and Vipogen LLC. Plus these Start-Ups across Health Care: Advagen Inc., Aviva Biosciences Corp., Gene Network Sciences Inc., Hypnion Inc. and Savacor Inc.

Researchers at Gene Network Sciences (GNS) are on a mission to solve the drug industry's agonizing R&D productivity problem. Their answer: predictive computer simulations designed to reduce drug discovery time by one-third and cut R&D costs in half. As they evolve, these simulations will show how human cancer and bacterial cells behave, providing insight into which protein targets or combinations thereof will yield the strongest therapeutic impact.