The Information Symphony: Data orchestration for a changing industry managing data on a platform for innovation. By Chris Molloy A leading ballet conductor (1) recently told me of courses which he runs for senior business leaders. He allows them to conduct an orchestra: first, very strictly, with close direction applied… Read More
Pathway Analysis - Understanding the bridge between environmental cues and cellular response By Dr John Comley Understanding the function of a protein in the context of normal and abnormal cellular processes requires a comprehensive knowledge not only of its regulation but also of its role in signalling and metabolic networks… Read More
Biological Analysis and Interpretation For Improved Research Outcomes By Dr Douglas Bassett In the last few years, technological advancements in the life sciences have changed many ways in which we think about research. Next-generation sequencing, qPCR and microRNA offer new avenues to ask and answer research questions in more detail… Read More
From Outsourced To Open: The continuing evolution of the drug discovery business model Dr Mary Canady One doesn't have to look far to find that the large pharmaceutical business model has many market forces working against it, such as patent expirations, dwindling pipelines, and reduced R&D productivity. However, these factors… Read More
Ontario as a Life Sciences Powerhouse By Michael Stewart Around the world, competition between life sciences companies is fierce. And so is the competition between jurisdictions wanting to attract the good paying jobs, innovative spirit and R&D that comes along with this important economic sector. Different jurisdictions, including the UK,… Read More
Simultaneous Visualisation of Attrition and Timelines: Funnel Diagrams. By Dr Linda Hirons, Dr Craig Johnstone and Colin Sambrook-Smith In drug discovery both attrition and timelines are important factors to consider when applying process improvement to lead optimisation. In our attempts to improve the visualisation of both of these factors simultaneously,… Read More
Small Scale Benchtop Automation: Broadening the adoption of lab automation By Dr John Comley Driven by the need to enable technically challenging or repetitive processes, many labs in drug discovery that were not previously adopters of laboratory automation are being increasingly drawn to the potential of simple small-scale benchtop automation. Read More
Exploring the horizons of small molecule drug discovery the evolution and application of the ideal fragment library By Dr David Myszka and Dr Jane Paul With the pharmaceutical industry facing unprecedented challenges in small molecule drug discovery, this paper argues that, with the correct design of the fragment library, Fragment-Based… Read More
When High Content Screening Meets High Throughput By Dr Vincent Unterreiner and Dr Daniela Gabriel The terms High Content Imaging (HCI) and High Throughput Screening (HTS) were introduced more than a decade ago (1) and are defining the use of automated microscopy and automated image analysis in the context of… Read More
The Apocalyptic Horsemen of Drug Discovery and Development By Dr Gary J. Keil The pharmaceutical industry should consider an evolutionary disease management approach based on homeostasis, irreversibility, biological alinearity, pseudo-N-of-1 health and disease states and narrative medicine best practices in order to help secure a successful drug development future. The… Read More
A roadmap for achieving self-sustainability of academic high throughput screening core facilities By Dr Peter R. McDonald, Dr Anuradha Roy and Dr Rathnam Chaguturu Many academic HTS centres, faced with the high costs of drug discovery and decreasing federal funding, are struggling to survive. Just as with any small business,… Read More
By Dr John Anson, Oxford Gene Technology Molecular biomarkers that define a particular state or condition are a powerful tool used to diagnose disease, highlight patients with a pre-disposition towards a given disease and to identify those who would benefit from a given therapy. Until now, most diagnostic tests have… Read More
SMAC Mimetics: a new class of targeted agents that activate apoptotic cell death and block pro-survival signalling in cancer cells By Dr Mark A. McKinlay SMAC mimetics are a new class of targeted drugs being developed for the treatment of solid tumours and hematologic cancers. SMAC mimetics specifically induce apoptotic… Read More
By Dr Aaron Heifetz The promise of stem cell technology as a tool for drug discovery, drug development and as a therapeutic modality is no longer in the future but part of contemporary healthcare. The speed which stem cells have been integrated into biomedical product development has surprised many, but… Read More
Epigenetics: Targeting the mediator between environment and phenotype By Dr John M. Rosenfeld, Dr Kan Saito and Dr Michael Sturges Although it is still early days in terms of our understanding of epigenetics, the fast development of new tools and technologies to define genome-wide epigenetic variations in humans has the… Read More
The Potential of Cloud Computing for Drug Discovery & Development By Peter Boogaard Cloud collaboration has allowed projects of previously unimaginable scale and scope to be constructed at an unmet price/performance ratio. Widespread access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and agile and adaptable systems of workflow now allow people… Read More
