Workshops

19 July 2011

Workshop A: Developing Improved Animal Models in Oncology and CNS Diseases to Increase Drug Discovery and Development Capabilities

Drug discovery and development in oncology and CNS diseases has been severely hampered by animal models that are poorly predictive of efficacy. This is a major cause of clinical attrition in these areas. This workshop will be a discussion of 2-3 case studies involving the development of novel animal models in these therapeutic areas, aimed at more closely modeling human disease than current models. We shall discuss:

• The implications of these case studies for developing novel therapeutic strategies, target identification and validation, drug discovery, preclinical studies and reducing clinical attrition
• The hurdles to industry adoption of novel animal models developed in academic laboratories

Workshop Leader:

Allan Haberman, Principal, Haberman Associates

Allan B. Haberman, Ph.D., is Principal of Haberman Associates, a consulting firm specializing in science and technology strategy for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other life science companies. He is also a Principal and Founder of the Biopharmaceutical Consortium, an expert team formed to assist life science companies, research groups, and emerging enterprises to identify and exploit promising breakthrough technologies.

Dr. Haberman is also the author of numerous publications on the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, their technologies and products, and the major therapeutic areas for drug discovery and development. Formerly the Associate Director of the Biotechnology Engineering Center at Tufts University, he received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard University.

Workshop B: Exploiting Kinase Signalling Pathways: Opportunities for Drug Development

Drugs that target particular components of signalling pathways have been identified as having great potential in treating major diseases, but targeting complex molecular pathways is challenging.

The PI3K signalling pathway has emerged as a promising therapeutic target in cancer and inflammatory disorders. Genetic and pharmacological approaches have established an important role for PI3K-delta in immune cell function, mast cell degranulation and leukocyte migration.

CAL-101 is a novel drug that selectively inhibits PI3K-delta activity and therefore has applications in lymphoid malignancies, including indolent NHL, mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Initial characterization of PI3K‑delta has allowed development of CAL-101 as the first drug to therapeutically modulate this important enzyme. In turn, the early success of CAL-101 is setting the stage for further examination of the role of PI3K-delta in health and disease.

In this workshop attendees will explore cutting edge case studies with CAL-101, a selective inhibitor of PI3K enzymatic activity as an example.

Participants will debate and discuss:

• The merits of kinase signalling over other pathways
• Approaches to identify new therapeutic candidates for drug development
• Clinical targeting of the PI3K pathway and what the impact is on pharmacology and toxicology

Workshop Leader:

Kamal D Puri, Principal Scientist, Head of Biology Research, Calistoga Pharmaceuticals

Kamal D. Puri has more than 15 years of research and development experience in oncology, immunology, vascular biology, and neurobiology. Dr. Puri is serving as Head of Biology Research at Calistoga Pharmaceuticals in Seattle, USA. He was previously Senior Scientist and Biology Team Leader at ICOS Corporation, where he led several drug development projects focused on generating small molecule inhibitors appropriate for IND enabling studies and clinical trials. His work led to identification of several Drug Development Candidates, and several of which are currently being evaluated in clinical Phase I/II studies. Prior to joining ICOS, Dr. Puri held roles at CytoTherapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Puri received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Masters of Science degree in Organic Chemistry from Delhi University, India and was awarded a doctorate in Molecular Biophysics from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. He undertook his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Dr. Timothy Springer.