Creating a productive R&D culture By Janet White Increasing R&D productivity is the current mantra of pharmaceutical industry executives. The promise of new technologies and process improvements has been extensively discussed. However, fundamental culture change within research organisations remains the final unexplored frontier to increased productivity. This article introduces the… Read More
Ontologies - Semantic networks of pharmaceutical knowledge By Dr Stephen P. Gardner In the current climate making information more transparent to internal R&D staff and to external audiences such as regulators and consumers is crucial to business effectiveness. A new generation of semantic technologies capable of generating a consistent view… Read More
How a new compliance agenda is changing the face of the drug discovery industry By Dr Doug Dean and Frances Bruttin Safe and effective drug products for the 21st century can be developed if, and only if, firms understand the mechanism of action of their products, and they are able… Read More
Cryo Electron Microscopy and Electron Tomography By Dr Jack Elands and Dr Ulf Skoglund Cryo electron microscopy and electron tomography will play a crucial role in the future of drug development. The completion of the human genome project has focused tremendous interest in determining the structure and function of the… Read More
Exposure response modelling a safe and profitable way to speed drugs to market By Dr Gregory Fisher and Dr Arthur L. Craigmill The applicability of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modelling (PBPK) far exceeds that of classical PK in predictive pharmacokinetics, tissue dosimetry, drug efficacy, and drug safety. This in silico technique, in… Read More
The search for validated biomarkers in the face of biosystems complexity By Professor Ian Humphery-Smith and Will Dracup As the pharmaceutical industry is all too well aware, the genomics and postgenomic sciences have delivered an excessive number of drug targets few of which have been well validated. Indeed, apart from… Read More
Compound Management - In pursuit of sample integrity By Dr John Comley In December 2004 HTStec published its report on Compound Management Trends. This market report summarises the results of a global benchmarking study on pharmaceutical compound management (CM), documenting current practices, issues and future trends in CM, with a… Read More
The Impact of RNAi on Drug Discovery By Dr Christopher P. Miller RNAi (RNA interference) is an important target validation tool that has risen to prominence since 2001. For a number of reasons, it has supplanted other pre-existing target validation tools and is now the method of choice for target… Read More
Overview of biomarkers in disease, drug discovery and development By Professor Stephen Naylor The pharmaceutical industry and the healthcare sector are both confronted with expensive technological innovation, escalating costs and pointed questions about productivity and efficiency. The parallels between the problems of producing new therapeutic agents and treating patients afflicted… Read More
Patent Pools as a Solution to the licensing problems of diagnostic genetics - United States and European perspectives By Dr Jorge A. Goldstein, Dr Ted J. Ebersole, Marvin C. Guthrie, Annette A. Hirschfeld and Bart J. van den Broek Advances in diagnostic genetic testing have resulted in the ability to… Read More
COX-2 Inhibitor Toxicity - Warning shot over pharma's bow By Dr Mark Schena and Dr William Greene Human beings are complex gene machines that rely on the intricate interplay of ~25,000 genes to impart biological function. Genomic function is affected by genetic variability and environmental factors, giving rise to considerable… Read More
The Use and Usefulness of Transgenic Systems in the Discovery of New Medicines By Professor Jan Tornell The pharmaceutical industry is faced with the challenge to deliver truly novel medicines to a market under financial pressure when pharmaceutical R&D becomes increasingly difficult and complex. This review will mainly focus on… Read More
Experimental Medicine - Developing biomarkers in early discovery to bridge preclinical and clinical development By Dr Robert Dix In today's pharmaceutical research and development environment a major problem is the transition of too many drugs to later stages of development with insufficient and/or inadequate information (eg efficacy, dosing), resulting in… Read More
Systems biology, information, disease and drug discovery By Professor Stephen Naylor Pharmaceutical companies are confronted with an urgent need to increase their lead compound and clinical candidate portfolios and to satisfy market demands for continued innovation and revenue growth. The lack of improved productivity and limited drug pipeline growth is… Read More
By Dr Ashok R Dongre, Dr Douglas Robinson, Dr Mark E Curran and Dr Nicholas C Dracopoli Molecular profiling is becoming increasingly important as a tool for the discovery and implementation of novel biomarkers for use in drug development. Modern profiling methods permit comprehensive analysis of biological systems that allow,… Read More
Leveraging the ion channel platform for lead generation in atrial fibrillation By Professor Andreas Busch Competition in the pharmaceutical industry requires a reduction in research and development project cycle times and, accordingly, an increase in productivity and efficiency. Pharmaceutical companies also are faced with the challenge of translating massive amounts… Read More
