BioLizard Awarded Grant from VLAIO to Advance AI-Powered Biomedical Solution for Accelerated Drug Development
 

• VLAIO grant to fund development of new AI application, using large language models (LLMs) to search, extract and structure key insights from vast scientific datasets, significantly reducing review time and knowledge extraction
• State-of-the-art solution will further expand capabilities of Bio|Verse^®, BioLizard’s integrated platform combining AI and human expertise to transform biomedical data into actionable insights

Ghent (Belgium), March 05, 2025 – BioLizard, a leading bioinformatics, data analytics and data engineering consulting company driving digital transformation in the life sciences industry, has been awarded a grant from Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) to develop an AI-powered biomedical knowledge discovery software solution that will be part of BioLizard’s Bio|Verse suite. This innovative application will be designed to automate and streamline literature analysis, enabling biotech and pharmaceutical companies to extract critical insights from vast amounts of (un)structured data with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

With over one million biomedical research articles published annually on PubMed alone, reviewing literature is an overwhelming but imperative part of drug development and scientific advancements. It is estimated that research scientists spend about 60% of their time selecting, organizing and cleaning data. Thus, there is a critical need for a solution that can automate and streamline this process, ensuring faster, more reliable and more comprehensive biomedical information extraction. The novel solution developed in the Bio|Verse framework will leverage LLMs to automatically search, extract, and structure information, transforming unstructured text into actionable insights for target identification, drug discovery, and other life sciences applications. The knowledge output gained from structured and unstructured data searches is presented in visual and interactive dashboards allowing visual analytics and biological interpretation.

“We are grateful to VLAIO for awarding us this important grant to provide researchers a critical new application which will assist them in making discoveries that may one day improve and even save lives,” said Liesbeth Ceelen, CEO of BioLizard. “Leveraging our extensive expertise in biotechnology and AI-based software solutions, our next step in the Bio|Verse suite of applications will take literature and data review to a new level. This AI-driven tool will significantly reduce the time researchers spend on data gathering, allowing them to focus on what they do best – analyzing and interpreting the data.” She added: “By integrating this tool into Bio|Verse, we will enable our biotech and pharmaceutical clients to improve target identification, accelerate drug discovery, and gain actionable insights faster and more reliably than ever before.”

The grant will accelerate the development of this novel application. This new step in our AI capabilities will enable the integration of public and non-public resources for knowledge extraction. The application will be a value add in the services provided by BioLizard.

About VLAIO

Flanders Innovation & Entrepreneurship (Agentschap Innoveren & Ondernemen - VLAIO) is a Flemish Government agency that stimulates and supports R&D activities by innovative entrepreneurs and companies. More information: https://www.vlaio.be/en

About BioLizard

BioLizard is a leading multi-national bioinformatics, data engineering and biopharma consulting services company, heading digital transformation in the life sciences industry. Headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, BioLizard is the trusted, go-to partner for data strategy and execution with clients across the range from drug discovery to clinical research and diagnostics as well as animal health and food & agriculture.

At BioLizard, we "think data" and "speak biology", partnering with our clients to transform lives. Our expert team combines deep biological knowledge with proven expertise in AI and bioinformatics to tackle complex data challenges in human and animal health. Through our AI-native Bio|Verse platform, we accelerate biomarker discovery and enable actionable insights for modern drug development. With a global presence, we deliver tailored solutions in data management, bioinformatics, and AI to drive our client’s data-driven strategy for biotech, pharma and diagnostic companies. For further information, please visit https://lizard.bio/ or BioLizard’s LinkedIn.