Overview
Tuesday, October 18
7:30-8:30 Registration and Morning Coffee
Getting the Most out of Drug Discovery
8:30-8:40 Chairperson's Opening Remarks
8:40-9:25 Making Decisions with Incomplete Data - Managing the Risks at Go/No-Go Decision Points
Peter Lassota, Ph.D., Executive Director, Oncology, Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation
Defining a valid target: Is tumor biology and epidemiology enough?
Screening/Structural Biology: Acceptable quality of hits/leads, Can we afford to know "all about all"?
Lead optimization: When is time to move forward, and when is time to quit?
Animal models of disease: What do we actually model?
PK/PD/Efficacy: A relationship, or a coincidence?
Toxicology: NaCl can be lethal (water as well)
Now we go to the clinic! Where are the patients?
9:25-10:10 Understanding the Commercial Marketplace 5-10 Years Out
Robert Freeman, Ph.D., Managing Partner, The Freeman Group LLC and Former Executive Director, Public Policy, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Three Possible Scenarios for 2010-2015: rational or irrational decision-making
How the scenarios might impact discovery & early development
Personalized and evidence-based medicine
How the scenarios will affect risk management
Valuating discovery platforms
10:10-10:30 Coffee Break
10:30-11:15 Discovery Strategies for Understanding Biological Systems
Ms. Susan Flood, Global Pharma Strategist, Worldwide Strategy & Planning, SAS Institute
Introduction to systems biology as a discipline
Steps to fill the arsenal of tools required to understand complex systems
Applications of systems biology along the drug discovery pipeline
11:15-12:00 Valuation of Novel Targets in Licensing Deals: How Much Are They Worth?
Timothy Herpin, Ph.D., Associate Director, External Science, Technology and Licensing, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Why pay for something that is free in the literature?
Cost and value of a novel target
Where is the value coming from?
How can it be quantified?
Comparables from published information
| 12:00-1:45 Lunch and Learn Workshop or Lunch on Your Own
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Sponsored by: |
Improving Target Biology Research
Mr. Hans Johansson, Chief Executive Officer & President, Sidec Technologies
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Leveraging Technology to Drive Positive Results
1:45-1:55 Chairpersons Opening Remarks
1:55-2:40 Drug Discovery Strategies: Selecting the Optimal Approach
Frank Sams-Dodd, Ph.D., Head of Psychopharmacology, CNS Research, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co
Analyzing target identification and validation
Reducing risks in the drug discovery process
Comparison of the strengths and weaknesses of drug discovery strategies
Criteria for selecting the optimal approach
2:40-3:30 Business Drivers for Pharmacogenomics: Fragmenting Markets or Maximizing Value?
Michelle Penny, Ph.D., Associate Director, Department of Clinical Pharmacogenomics, Pfizer Global Research &Development
Impacting Attrition: Increasing the quality of new targets by using genetics in target discovery
and validation
Influencing Decision Making: Incorporation of pharmacogenomics into clinical the development
plan
Population Stratification and Product Differentiation: The value of understanding the molecular
basis of differential response to therapy
Managing Risk: Utilizing genomic data to provide confidence in safety
3:30-4:00 Refreshment Break
4:00-4:45 Valuing and Realizing True Value from Investment in Enabling Technology
Rob Hockney, Ph.D., Director of Global Collaborations and Licenses, Discovery Alliances, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
Developing a systematic methodology approach to valuating new technologies
Analyzing new technology to inform investment decisions and promote maximum value
Facilitating the comparison of external and internal investments
Comparing the returns on highly dissimilar investments
4:45-5:30 Target and Technology Selection for Ion Channel Drug Discovery
Douglas Krafte, Ph.D., Vice President, Biology, Icagen, Inc
Historical and current perspectives on ion channels as drug discovery targets
Post-genomic challenges in ion channel target selection and prioritization
Rapid advances in ion channel technologies: how and when to integrate these technologies into a drug discovery program
Impact assessment of technological advances and future prospects
5:30-7:00 Happy Hour with the Exhibitors and Poster Viewing
Wednesday, October 19
7:00-8:30 Registration
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7:30-8:15 Breakfast Workshop
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Sponsored by: |
The Growing Role of Protein Interaction Analysis in Drug Discovery
Dr. Bjorn O. Nilsson, Senior Vice President Business & Technology Development, Biacore AB
The presentation includes examples of protein interaction analysis as used in the drug discovery process, illustrating a great potential to shorten timelines and reduce costs and risk. Biacore systems provide unique, highest quality data on specificity, affinity and kinetics to support critical decisions at key stages throughout drug discovery. |
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Business Drivers and Drug Discovery - The Imperfect Marriage
8:30-8:40 Chairperson's Remarks
8:40-9:25 Drug Discovery in the Age of Complex Biology - Genz-29155: A Case Study
Fredrick Vinick, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery, Genzyme
Genz-29155 was discovered in a high throughput screen designed to find compounds capable of blocking
TNF-induced apoptosis in L-929 cells.
Genz-29155 has shown impressive activity in multiple mouse models of MS, and in several transplant rejection models.
The mechanism of action of Genz-29155 is complex: attempts to identify its molecular target are in progress.
Recently, analogs of Genz-29155 have been prepared which are 100-100x more potent in the primary cell-based apoptosis assay.
9:25-10:10 When Science is not Enough: How a Business Approach Can Transform Drug Discovery
Matthew Bell, Ph.D., Director, Discovery Research Strategy, Wyeth Research
Challenges and opportunities in Drug Discovery today
Why great science is not enough to guarantee success
The challenges of "managing" science and scientists
How business approaches and techniques can drive Discovery productivity
Integrating a business team within Discovery
How Wyeth Discovery sustainably increased research output by 400%
10:10-11:00 Coffee Break, Poster and Exhibit Viewing
11:00-11:45 Navigating the Business Maze of Drug Discovery
Philip Wendler, Ph.D., Senior Director, Strategy and Operations, Millennium Pharmaceuticals
Hurdles to the business of drug discovery
Challenge as collaboration for common goals is in conflict with disparate perspectives of success
Culture as unifying strategy
11:45-12:35 INTERACTIVE PANEL: Novel vs. Precedented Targets
What strategy is the best for the business?
What strategy is the best for patients?
Panelists Include:
Cristina Rondinone, Ph.D, Director, Research Metabolic Diseases,
F. Hoffmann-La Roche
Robert Karr, M.D., Former Senior Vice President, Strategic Management, Pfizer Global Research and Development
John A. Bilello, Ph.D, Director, Technology Development, Translational Medicine & Genetics, GlaxoSmithKline |
12:35-1:45 Lunch and Learn Workshop
Usefulness of Microsatellite Markers in Genomewide Identification of Disease-Susceptibility Genes and Biomarkers
Dr Hidetoshi Inoko, President & CSO & CEO, GenoDive Pharma & Dr. Siamak Bahram, Advisor, Professor of Immunology, University of Louis Pasteur
Our microsatellite technology can be used in association studies of multifactorial diseases through determination of genetic differences between patient and healthy groups;
To collect genomewide a set of disease-susceptibility loci, and identify
targets for innovative drugs,
To analyze patient groups for responder selection,
To use for pharmacogenetics.
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Sponsored
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Evaluating the Impact of Technologies on Target Strategies
1:45-1:50 Chairpersons Opening Remarks
1:50-2:35 Assessing the Impact of Technology for Strategy Development and Decision Making
Steve Yang, Ph.D., Executive Director, Strategic Management, Pfizer Global Research &
Development
Integrated technology strategy development process
Tools and processes to evaluate technology impact
Qualitative and quantitative evaluation approaches
Linking ROI measures to internal decision making and external investments
2:35-3:20 Measuring the Impact of Technology on Productivity after the Deal is Done
Blake C. Salisbury, Senior Manager, Discovery/Technology, Corporate Business Development, Eli Lilly & Company
Was it a good strategic fit?
Did it improve productivity?
Were there time savings realized in reaching important milestones?
Would there have been a better choice in retrospect?
Did it enable discoveries that could not have been achieved through alternate methods?
Was it the right deal and what can we learn from it for next time?
3:20-4:00 Refreshment Break, Poster and Exhibit Viewing
Predicting
and Avoiding Off-Target Effects
4:00-4:30 Designer siRNAs and Pitfalls in a
Stolen Natural Process
Sumedha Jayasena, Ph.D., Senior Principal Scientist, Oncology Research,
Amgen Inc.
Since their inception, siRNA molecules have been used to silence a vast
number of genes in tissue culture cell lines, albeit with limited in vivo
applications. At least in vitro, siRNA-mediated gene silencing has
already become a mainstay in target discovery, pathway analysis and therapeutic
development. However, with more and more applications, a number of issues has
been discovered to challenge the specificity of this approach. This presentation
highlights some approaches to overcome such challenges.
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4:30-5:00 siRNA Off
Target Effects: Proposed Mechanism and Strategies to Minimize the
Phenotypic Impact |
Sponsored by |
Anastasia Khvorova, Ph.D.,
Director of Biology, Biology R&D, Dharmacon, Inc.
RNAi is a remarkable tool for gene function analysis, pathway
elucidation, drug target validation, and gene mapping. While RNAi is
typically associated with unparalleled specificity in gene silencing
studies, two major issues include (1) understanding and predicting the
biological impact of siRNA induced off-target effects and (2) strategies
that help minimize off-target-induced phenotypes. Reducing off-target
events is paramount for RNAi-based large-scale screens to reduce the rate
of false-positives and unnecessary follow-up confirmatory experiments. As
partial sequence identity between a given siRNA and corresponding target
site is sufficient to induce cleavage, siRNA specificity is currently
viewed as a major technological challenge. This talk will discuss:
Proposed mechanisms underlying off-target effects,
Rules that aid in recognizing potential off-target events,
Examples of the functional and phenotypic consequences of off-target
events in high throughput screens, and
Methods to mitigate off-target events and enhance specificity
including pooling functional siRNAs into single potent reagents and the
application of novel chemical modification patterns. |
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5:00-5:15
Advances in Stealth RNAi and miRNA Design for Highly Effective Gene
Silencing
Michaeline Bunting, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, RNAi Research Area
Manager, RNAi Research, Invitrogen Corporation
Recent advances in the design of Stealth RNAi and miRNA expression
vectors for highly effective and specific gene silencing will be
presented. Stealth RNAi, a chemically modified synthetic dsRNA, was
developed to achieve high specificity and greater stability compared to
unmodified siRNA molecules. Using computational analysis of large sets of
functionally active Stealth RNAi molecules, we have developed and
validated a highly predictive algorithm to identify potent Stealth RNAi
target sequences. We will also present the construction of Pol II-driven
miRNA-based RNAi vectors to achieve tissue specific inhibition of multiple
targets from a single vector. These vectors express artificial miRNAs
which are designed to perfectly complement, and therefore cleave,
endogenous target transcripts with a high rate of success. Use of this
system to target endogenous genes, including through lentiviral delivery,
will be presented |
Sponsored by: |
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5:45 Executives on Target Wrap-Up
For
Sponsorship and Exhibit Opportunities
John Yurewicz, Manager of Business Development
Phone: 617.630.1383, Cell: 857-636-8188 Email: jyurewicz@healthtech.com
