SABPA Science & Technology Forum IX:

New Trend in Drug Development: Companion Diagnostics

When:              March 19, 2011 (Saturday) 8:30am – 12:30 pm

Where:             Institute of Americas, UCSD

Organizer:        SABPA

Registration:    https://www.123signup.com/register?id=vcycz

            $20 for online registration, $10 for students and post-docs                  

                          $40 for on-site registration, online registration ends March 16, 2009

Companion diagnostics, which looks for genetic, protein, or gene expression markers to predict whether a drug works in someone or causes adverse effect, has emerged into an exciting new trend over the last few years.   With the cost and hurdle to get a new drug approved getting higher and higher, more and more pharma companies begin to explore using companion test to develop safer and more effective drugs.  The value of companion diagnostic tests has already been proven by a number of marketed products, such as Hercep-Test for Herceptin and K-RAS mutation test for Erbutux and Vectibix.  Despite the proven successes and wider awareness of companion diagnostic, pharma companies still move slowly in adopting the new paradigm to co-develop new drugs along with the companion tests.  The regulatory hurdles, viable business strategies, physician acceptances, insurance coverage, and many other barriers remain unsettled for this young filed.  At the SABPA Sci&Tech forum IX, we invite a number of opinion leaders representing pharma companies, diagnostic companies and other interest groups to share with their insights on this rapidly growing field. 

Speakers

Kenneth J. Bloom, M.D., F.C.A.P.

Chief Medical Officer, Clarient, Inc.

François Ferré, Ph.D

President and CEO of AltheaDx

Laura K. Shawver , PhD

Executive in Residence at 5AM Ventures

Chairman of The Clearity Foundation

James Christensen Ph.D.

Director, Oncology Translational Research, Pfizer

Lyle Arnold, Ph.D.

President and Founder at Aegea Biotechnologies

David Nelson Ph.D.

President and CEO of Epic Sciences

Erik Holmlin Ph.D.

President and CEO of Bionanomatrix

Jian-Bing Fan, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Scientific Research, Illumina