Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association-New England (SAPA-NE)
8th Annual Conference SAPA-NE 2005
Advancing Drug Discovery & Development Saturday, June 18, 2005 Wong Auditorium Building E51, Sloan Business School Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139 Organizer: SAPA-NE www.sapa-ne.org Co-organizer: MIT-CSSA http://cssa.mit.edu/new/
Platinum Sponsor: Eisai Research Institute, Inc. Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Gold Sponsor: ALTANA Research Institute ArQule, Inc. Merck Research Laboratories Silver Sponsor: Abbott Bioresearch Center Ariad Aveo BlueSky Biotech Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. Cyprotex Sepracor Inc. Pfizer Wyeth Bronze Sponsor: Millennium
Conference Chair: Harry Huimin Chen, Ph.D.
Conference Co-Chairs: Lin Han Bingli Ma, M.D. Sue Ma, M.D. Mark Lin, Ph.D. Wei Zhang, Ph.D. Liping Zhou, Ph.D.
Wyeth Research; SAPA-NE, President-elect
MIT Ph.D. Student MIT-CSSA Vice President Wyeth Research; SAPA-NE, Director Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Director ALTANA Research Institute of ALTANA Pharma SAPA-NE, Director ImmunoGen, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Director Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Director
Other Conference Organizing Committee Members: Min Dong, Ph.D. Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Director Kevin Fang, Ph.D. Sepracor, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Director Daming Gou, Ph.D. Jun Han, Ph.D. Qing Huang Jenny Li
Johnson Matthew Pharma Services; SAPA-NE, Treasurer Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Director Abbott Bioresearch Center; SAPA-NE, Director
Kechun Li, MBA
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Former President Eisai Research Institute; SAPA-NE, Former President
Shiwen Lin, Ph.D.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Former President
Jiwei Qi, Ph.D.
GLSynthesis, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Director
Ruhui Qiu
ArQule, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Director
Lixin Shen, Ph. D.
ArQule, Inc.; SAPA-NE, President
Yongchun Shen, Ph.D.
Eisai Research Institute; SAPA-NE, Former President
Shallwei Sun
Eisai Research Institute; SAPA-NE, Director
Tou, Liqiang, M.D., Ph.D. Wenge Wang, Ph.D.
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research; SAPA-NE, Director Wyeth BioPharma; SAPA-NE, Director
Yihan Wang, Ph.D. Erxi Wu, Ph.D.
ARIAD Pharmaceutical, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Former President Harvard-MIT; SAPA-NE, Former President
Junjun Wu, Ph.D.
Wyeth Research; SAPA-NE, Director
Wenrong Xu, Ph.D.
Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; SAPA-NE, Director
Herong Yang, Ph.D.
Open Channel Solutions, SAPA-NE, Web Master
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Greetings from the Conference Chair On behalf of the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association - New England (SAPA-NE), I would like to welcome you to our 8th annual conference. The annual conference is entitled “Advancing Drug Discovery & Development” and focuses on three themes: 1) Strategic Planning and Monitoring in R&D; 2) Emerging Technologies in R&D; 3) New Opportunities in China. No one will be surprised if we continue to put a technology theme in our annual conference, since biotechnology is one of major focuses for many SAPA members. That is what they are good at, and that is what they want to keep up with. Four speeches fall into this category. But this year, we’d like to provide our audience with a higher and broader view on drug R&D, so we have our one theme on strategic planning and monitoring in R&D. We have two speakers in this section. Another bright spot in this annual conference is on our third theme: looking for new opportunities in China. Globalization leads Biopharmaceutical companies to start integrating their R&D, manufacturing and clinical trials into other countries. Due to its large population, relatively low cost of labor, abundance of skilled workers, established or emerging regulations similar to those in the USA, China is becoming more and more attractive to western Biopharmaceutical companies. SAPA, as a leading pharmaceutical professional association of Chinese-American heritage, has a clear vision for globalization of drug discovery and development, and we have a duty to promote communication and collaboration between the Chinese and American Biopharmaceutical industries. SAPA is comprised of more than 4000 pharmaceutical and biotech professionals across USA and China. SAPA-NE, based in the “Gene-town” Boston/Cambridge area, has attracted more than 900 professionals who are employed in the local industries and academic research institutes. SAPA-NE as a non-profit organization, strives to our mission: o To promote the advancement of pharmaceutical science and biotechnology; o
To facilitate scientific exchange and business cooperation between USA and China;
o To foster the career growth of pharmaceutical and biomedical professionals; o To value community service. Finally, I would like to thank all the speakers for their presentations. I would like to thank thesponsors for their generous support, the SAPA-NE organizing committee and our coorganizer, MIT-CSSA, and all the volunteers whose efforts made this event possible.
I hope all of you will have an enjoyable day. Sincerely,
Huimin Chen Harry Huimin Chen, Ph.D. SAPA-NE 2004 Conference Chair President-elect of SAPA-NE
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8th Annual Conference SAPA-NE 2005
Advancing Drug Discovery & Development Saturday, June 18, 2005 7:50 – 8:50 AM
Registration* and Breakfast
Opening Remarks 8:50 – 9:00 AM Harry Huimin Chen, Ph.D. SAPA-NE 8th Annual Conference Chair, SAPA-NE President-elect
Session 1: Strategic Planning and Monitoring in R&D Host: Wei Zhang, Ph.D., Conference Co-Chair 9:00– 9:40 AM Klaus Melchers, Ph.D. Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, ALTANA Research Institute “Application of an Integrated Biological and Chemical Genomics Platform for Drug Profiling and the Identification and Validation of Drug Targets” 9:40– 10:20 AM
Roberto D. Polakiewicz, Ph.D. Vice President, Research, Cell Signaling Technology “Phospho-Proteomics of Cancer”
10:20 – 10:50 AM
Exhibition and Coffee Break
Session 2: Emerging Technologies in R&D (1) Host: Bingli Ma, M.D., Conference Co-Chair 10:50– 11:30 AM
Steven J. Projan, Ph.D. Vice President, Biological Technologies, Wyeth Research "Targeted Chemotherapy: A One Hit Wonder?”
11:30– 12:10 PM
Shi-Chung Ng, Ph.D. Vice President, Drug Discovery Biology, ArQule
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“Combining ArQule Chemistry with Chemical Genomics: An unique approach to oncology drug discovery” 12:10 – 1:30 PM
Lunch and Exhibition
Session 2: Emerging Technologies in R&D (2) Host: Sue Ma, M.D., Conference Co-Chair 1:30 – 2:10 PM
Alexander Kamb, Ph.D. Vice President, Global Head Oncology, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR)
"What's wrong with our cancer models” 2:10 – 2:50 PM
W. Stephen Faraci, Ph.D. Senior Director, Head of Biology at the Research Technology Center (RTC) of Pfizer “Drug Discovery via a Gene Family Paradigm”
2:50 – 3:20 PM
Exhibition and Coffee Break
Session 3: New Opportunities in China Host: Mark Lin, Ph.D., Conference Co-Chair 3:20 – 4:00 PM
Brian Seed, Ph.D. Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School "Preliminary Experience with a Chinese-American Drug Development Program"
4:00– 4:40 PM
Qian Liu, Professor Executive Vice President, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College “Current Biotechnology R&D in China”
4:40– 5:20 PM
Jiquan Zhao, Ph.D. Professor; Director of Tianjin D & M Biotechnology Co. from Chinese Pharmaceutical Delegation
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“Good Investment Environment in TEDA and the Prospect of Investment in Manufacture of Medicine Intermediates” 6:00– 9:00 PM Cocktail Reception Host: Harry Chen, SAPA-NE 8th Annual Conference Chair Place: Marriott at Kendall Square Activity: 1. SAPA-NE introduction; MIT-CSSA introduction; 2. SAPA-NE 2004 Outstanding Contribution Award Ceremony 3. Networking opportunity among speakers, sponsors, vendors and attendees. Drinks and food will be served. Ticket is required for Reception, which is available in front registration desk.
SAPA-NE Previous Annual Conference (1998-2004) 06/06/1998 First Annual Conference “Interface of Biochemistry, Biomedicine and Drug Development”, Yenchin Library, Harvard University 06//29/1999 Second Annual Conference “A Blue Print of Biotechnology/ Biotechnology/ Biopharmaceuticals for 21st Century”, Medical School, Boston University 06/24/2000 Third Annual Conference “Molecular Medicine and Drug Discovery in the New Millennium”, Sloan Business School, MIT0 06/08/2001 Forth Annual Conference “Drug Discovery: Industry Trends and Business”, Harvard Business School, Harvard 06/22/2002 Fifth Annual Conference “Drug Discovery and Development in the PostGenome Era”, Sloan Business School, MIT 06/21/2003 Sixth Annual Conference “Drug Discovery and Life Science 2003”, Sloan Business School, MIT 06/26/2004 Seventh Annual Conference “Integrated Innovative Drug Discovery & Development”, Sloan Business School, MIT
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Biographies of Speakers/Abstracts of Speeches Klaus Melchers, Ph.D. received a MS of Science and PhD in Molecular Biology, both from the Ruhr-University of Bochum in Germany. He has been Vice President and COO of ALTANA Research Institute, the US research division of the ALTANA Pharma, since April 2002. He oversees all the operations and strategic direction of this research center as well as managing the significant collaboration with GPC Biotech. Prior to his US assignment, Dr. Melchers established and headed up the Functional Genomics Department at the company headquarters, ALTANA Pharma AG in Constance, Germany. In parallel, he headed up a project team that provided the evaluation and planning for a US research facility of ALTANA Pharma, resulting in the establishment of the ALTANA Research Institute. He was also the project leader of the explorative antimicrobials research program in the Molecular Biology Department. His early project focus at the company was on Gastroenterology/Helicobacter pylori research and the development of therapeutic proteins for treatment of lung disease. Dr. Melchers joined ALTANA Pharma in 1987. He holds several patents and is the author/co-author of many peer-reviewed scientific articles and book articles in the fields of respiratory/lung surfactant, Gastroenterology/Helicobacter pylori patho-mechanisms and molecular biology. “Application of an Integrated Biological and Chemical Genomics Platform for Drug Profiling and the Identification and Validation of Drug Targets” Klaus Melchers, Ph.D., Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, ALTANA Research Institute The ALTANA Research Institute (ARI) is the US research division of ALTANA Pharma AG. ARI has been built over the past three years in Boston/Waltham (MA). The establishment of the institute was accelerated through collaboration with GPC Biotech. ARI functions within the R & D organization of ALTANA Pharma. The research focus at ARI is on the application of innovative technologies that support the company’s drug discovery efforts for treatment of inflammation/respiratory disorders, gastrointestinal disease and cancer. ARI’s integrated genomics and proteomics technology platform is strengthened by underlying state-of-the–art IT/bioinformatics and automation components. Scientists at ARI are decoding complex molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with disease, for development of novel and safe drugs in ALTANA Pharma’s core therapeutic areas. The approach uses (i) focused gene libraries (e.g. kinases, phosphodiesterases, others), (ii) focused functional gene screening campaigns for identification and validation of drug targets and (iii) the mapping of such targets into protein interaction pathways linked to disease. Chemogenomics and pharmacogenomics applications complement disease driven research, integrating target identification and validation with early and late stage compound profiling. SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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Dr Polakiewicz’s received his B.Sc. of Chemistry in1984, M.Sc. Microbiology in 1987 and Ph.D. in 1992 at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel. During 1992 to 1995, Dr. Polakiewicz had been a postdoctoral fellow at Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, MA. He came in New England Biolabs (NEB), in 1997 as a Staff Scientist. Two years later, NEB spun off Cell Signaling Technology, and Dr. Polakiewicz became a director of Research in the new company. In 2003, he was promoted to Vice President of Research, Cell Signaling Technology.
“Phospho-Proteomics of Cancer” Roberto D. Polakiewicz, Ph.D., Vice President, Research, Cell Signaling Technology Tyrosine kinases play a prominent role in human cancer, yet the oncogenic signaling pathways driving cell proliferation and survival have been difficult to identify, in part because of the complexity of the pathways and in part due to low cellular levels of tyrosine phosphorylation. In general, global phosphoproteomic approaches reveal small numbers of peptides containing phosphotyrosine. We have developed a strategy that emphasizes the phosphotyrosine component of the phosphoproteome and identifies large numbers of tyrosine phosphorylation sites. Peptides containing phosphotyrosine are isolated directly from protease-digested cellular protein extracts with a phosphotyrosinespecific antibody and are identified by tandem mass spectrometry. Applying this approach to several cell systems, including cancer cell lines, shows it can be used to identify activated protein kinases and their phosphorylated substrates without prior knowledge of the signaling networks that are activated, a first step in profiling normal and oncogenic signaling networks.
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Dr. Steven J. Projan attended M.I.T. for his undergraduate education, receiving an S.B. degree (in the Life Sciences and Nutrition & Food Science) in 1974; Dr. Projan’s thesis was on the production of frozen apple pie. He then graduated with a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1980 (receiving M.A. and M.Phil degrees along the way). Dr. Projan then became a postdoctoral fellow with Richard Novick at the Public Health Research Institute in New York City, marking the beginning of a fruitful and ongoing collaboration studying plasmid replication and virulence in Staphylococcus aureus. At the end of 1993 Dr. Projan moved to Lederle Laboratories as a group leader in anti-infectives research. Lederle, then a part of American Cyanamid, has since been absorbed into Wyeth Research. Dr. Projan became an Associate Director, Bacterial Genetics in January of 1997 and then Director, Antibacterial Research in June of 1998 at Wyeth. In May of 2003 Dr. Projan was appointed Assistant Vice President, Protein Technologies a group focusing on the discovery and development of novel, protein-based pharmaceuticals and in September 2004 Dr. Projan was elected Vice President of the newly created Dept. of Biological Technologies. At Wyeth Dr. Projan was the Biology Team Leader of the Glycylcycline Discovery Team that produced tigecycline, currently in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of bacterial infections including those caused by multidrug resistant strains. Dr. Projan has authored over eighty papers and book chapters, several short stories and one teleplay and he has published abstracts too numerous to count. In 2004 Dr. Projan was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He is a past chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Staphylococcal Diseases, served as a member of the Bacteriology & Mycology I.N.I.H. Study Section and currently serves on the Drug Discovery and Mechanisms of Resistance Study Section, serves on five editorial boards, is member of the ICAAC Program Committee, is currently chair of Division A of the American Society for Microbiology. “Targeted Chemotherapy: A One Hit Wonder?” Steven J. Projan, Ph.D., Vice President, Biological Technologies, Wyeth Research For years antibody targeting of chemotherapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer was a lot like the weather. Everyone talked about it but not seemed able to do anything about it. At Wyeth Research in Pearl River the natural products drug discovery group discovered a toxic natural product called calicheamicin which was significantly more potent than virtually all other cytotoxic agents discovered to date, but calicheamicin itself was too toxic to use a chemotherapeutic agent. To harness this potency, calicheamicin was conjugated to a monoclonal antibody, discovered by scientists at Celltech, which specifically bound to CD33, an antigen found commonly on leukemic cells but usually not found on other cell types. A version of this calicheamicin-anti CD33 Mab now stands now as the only targeted chemotherapeutic agent clinically used (gemtuzumab ozogamicin, a.k.a. Mylotarg) and is used for acute myelocytic leukemia. Can this success be repeated?
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Dr. Shi-Chung Ng is currently the Vice President of Drug Discovery Biology at ArQule where he is also the Head of Chemical Genomics and Preclinical Development. He was one of the two founding members of Abbott Laboratories Cancer Research program. As the Senior Group Leader and Volwiler Associate Fellow on the apoptosis project, he led the biology efforts on apoptosis to discover potent Bcl-XL BH3 groove binders based on SAR by NMR, affinity selection and fluorescent polarization assays. At the same time, he pioneered in bringing the company’s farnesyl transferase inhibitors, novel anti-mitotics agents and Bcl-2 antagonists through pre-clinical discovery to development candidates. Prior to his tenure at Abbott, Dr. Ng worked at Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Mark Fishman’s Lab in Mass General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. He is currently adjunct Assistant Professor at the Chicago Medical School, and adjunct Faculty Member at Northwestern University. He was formerly a visiting Professor at Rutgers University, a visiting Research Staff Member at Princeton University and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ng is a reviewer on a number of prominent scientific journals including Brain Research, Oncogene, Biochemical Pharmacology and Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. He has published over 180 scientific papers, abstracts and patent applications and is the recipient of awards such as Abbott Volwiler Society Award, Howard Hughes Research Fellowship, David Ross Scholarship and Marshall Scholarship. Dr. Ng obtained his B.S. degree with high honors in Biochemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China; his Ph.D. in Biochemistry on full scholarship from Purdue University, and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “Combining ArQule Chemistry with Chemical Genomics: An unique approach to oncology drug discovery” Shi-Chung Ng, Ph.D., Vice President, Drug Discovery Biology, ArQule Inc. ArQule is an emerging oncology biotech company with an unique approach to drug discovery. Due to our history as a combinatorial chemistry service company, we have assembled a diverse chemotype based library with drug-like properties. Combining this asset with standard and modified chemical genomics approaches such as target based high content microscopy screening allowed us to quickly establish competitive positions in a number of areas such as mitotic checkpoint activation, mitotic kinesin motors and histone deacetylase inhibitors. In this talk, I will illustrate our approaches with three examples to show how this can be used as a versatile platform for drug discovery. This approach is fully complementary to current molecular target based approach and when combined with high throughput eADME and array based chemistry, allowed us to select drug candidates rapidly for preclinical development.
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Dr. Alexander Kamb, Ph.D. has received his B.A. from Harvard College in 1982 and his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1988. His postdoctoral work in protein crystallography was carried out at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1992 Dr. Kamb joined Myriad Genetics, Inc., a fledgling genomics company in Salt Lake City, Utah. Until 1996 he served as Myriad's Director of Research and directed groups that identified genes responsible for familial melanoma and breast cancer. In 1996 Dr. Kamb founded Arcaris, Inc., also in Salt Lake City. In June, 2003 he moved to the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., where he serves as Global Head of Oncology. "What's wrong with our cancer models?" Dr. Alexander Kamb, Vice President, Global Head Oncology, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research The oncology therapeutic area is characterized by desperate medical need, drugs that kill human tumor cells and consequently are often toxic, and failure rates in expensive Phase III trials which eclipse many other disease areas. The poor performance of most investigational cancer drugs implies that the standard preclinical disease models are faulty or, at least, improperly used. Such results support the view that animal models can be highly effective, but only when selected and interpreted with care. A key objective of future research is to define preclinical models that represent the clinical population that will be best treated by a new drug. Progress toward this goal requires that we identify essential and compensating functions specific to cancer cells. Therefore, we must develop the tools and analytic framework not only to resolve the genetic/epigenetic states of human cells, but also to untangle the crucial gene-gene interactions that impact therapeutic response. The challenge of patient stratification thus merges with the problem of choosing proper preclinical models. There is, however, a small but increasing number of drugs for which preclinical models predict clinical success. These models involve tumors that contain recurrent mutations or translocations, including chronic myelogenous leukemia (Bcr-abl), lung adenocarcinoma (EGFR), and acute myelogenous leukemia (Flt-3). Rodent and cell culture models for the genetically defined versions of these diseases display strong shifts in the doseresponse curve to inhibitors of the target, compared to cells that lack the mutant targets.
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Dr. Steve Faraci is Senior Director and Head of Biology at the Research Technology Center (RTC) in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He joined Pfizer Central Research in Groton, CT in 1988 as a Research Scientist in the New Leads Department, which was pioneering the use of high throughput screening. In 1999, he relocated to the Discovery Technology Center (DTC) in Cambridge, MA as head of the Drug Pfinder program and Screening Technologies group. Recently, the DTC has transitioned to the RTC, whose role is to address specific challenges at the heart of drug discovery and development by using Pfizer’s scale and knowledge as well as partnering with scientific innovators in the Greater Boston community. Steve received his PhD in Chemistry from Wesleyan University. He then continued his training as a NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor Christopher Walsh at MIT and Harvard Medical School. “Drug Discovery via a Gene Family Paradigm” W. Stephen Faraci, Ph.D., Senior Director, Head of Biology at the Research Technology Center (RTC) of Pfizer Drug Discovery is a highly complex process with many difficult hurdles to overcome. Most drug discovery projects never lead to marketed drugs, with attrition due to both safety and pharmacology. One component of the industrialization of the drug discovery process is the categorization of various targets into their respective gene families. This has been made possible by the sequencing of the human genome such that all possible gene sequences for a particular family are known. Examples of gene families that are of significant interest to the Pharmaceutical and Biotech Industry are G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the kinase gene family. The PDE gene family represents a relatively small (21 distinct gene products that code for 19 enzymes) family and thus provides an excellent opportunity to determine the advantages to prosecuting a gene family approach. In this talk I will discuss the issues surrounding the discovery and development of new drugs and the potential that a gene family approach can have in this endeavor.
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Dr. Brian Seed is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He has a long-standing interest in the development of new technologies to facilitate discovery in basic research, and in the practical application of those technologies to meet human healthcare needs. He has served in various advisory roles across the spectrum of the biotechnological and pharmaceutical research communities. Dr. Brian Seed obtained both his B.S. and PhD degrees from California Institute of Technology. He began his professorship at Harvard Medical School in 1982 and became a full professor in 1994. He is a world renowned leader of biotechnology in both academia and industry. His major contributions in Expression Cloning Methodology, Aventis Global Insulin Process and Therapeutic Fusion Proteins significantly impact the pharmaceutical industrial revolution. In addition, he co-founded several successful biotech companies including, Phylos Inc. (Chairman), Connetics Inc., Edge Biosystems, Theracos Inc., and also served on the scientific advisory board for Aventis S.A., Medigene A.G. and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, etc. He is also an inventor of 39 U.S. patents, some of which lead to successful drug discovery. "Preliminary experience with a Chinese-American drug development program" Brian Seed, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics, Director of the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School Small molecule discovery research in China has been pioneered by a few companies without explicit ties to Western pipelines or funding. For a number of reasons it is attractive to create collaboration and experience networks that can interweave the needs and capabilities of Chinese and Western companies to form a stronger partnership for drug discovery than either individual group could create alone. Some early experience with such a network will be presented, with a discussion of the challenges and benefits for both sides.
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Professor Qian Liu is currently the executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), which are recognized as the most prestigious medical research and educational institutions in China. He is also the president of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, one of the best general hospitals in China. Before moving to CAMS and PUMC, professor Liu was the director of the China National Center for Biotechnology Development (CNCBD) under the China Ministry of Science of Technology, and was the director of the Biological Division of the China National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 program). During his tenure at CNCBD and 863 program, professor Liu played a pivotal role in elaborating biotech regulations and policies, and in coordinating frontier life science research and biotechnology industry in China. As the director of the China Biotechnology Node for Interaction with European Union, he made great contributions to promoting biomedical collaborations between China and other countries. He initiated a number of collaborations with world-class scientists in different fields, such as HIV and AIDS. In scientific research, professor Liu pioneered and led the efforts in blood substitute studies and applications in China. Professor Liu is among a very small group of people who have strong background in scientific research, regulation and policy making, biotech industry, and research institution and hospital management. Professor Liu obtained his M.D. degree from ShanXi Medical College and completed his research training in recombinant protein production in Professor Daniel Wang’s laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Current Biotechnology R&D in China” Qian Liu, Professor, Executive Vice President, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College • • •
Overview of biotechnology R&D in China New collaboration models with overseas Case studies
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Dr. Jiquan Zhao is the Director of TianJin D & M biotechnology Co. and a professor in Department of Chemical Engineering in Hebei University of Technology. He has been a faculty member in Hebei University of Technology since 1988. His research interest includes organic synthesis, homogeneous catalysis, asymmetric epoxidation and synthesis for medicine intermediates. Dr. Zhao obtained his doctoral degree in Organic Chemistry from the Institute of Photographic Chemistry in the Chinese Academy of Science. He also spent two years as a visiting scientist in Lehign University in the U.S. before his current position. “Good Investment Environment in TEDA and the Prospect of Investment in Manufacture of Medicine Intermediates” Jiquan Zhao, Ph.D. Professor; Director of Tianjin D & M Biotechnology Co. TianJin D&M biotechnology Co. is located in the center of TianJin economical development zone (TEDA), the home of 65 hi-tech companies with total investment of $710 million. With the support of local government, the availability of venture fund and the focus on biotechnology, TEDA has transformed into a research and manufacture center for pharmaceutical companies. Many multinational pharmaceutical corporations, such as Glaxo Smithkline, Novonordisk, and Tanbe Seiyaku have established plants in TEDA. TianJin D&M is one of the fastest growing biotech companies in this region. With initial investment of more than 5 million RMB, TianJin D&M Biotechnology Co. plans to build a modern drug development platform, bridging domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies. Our state-of-the-art research capacities and innovative environment create a great opportunity to help you achieve success in China.
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SAPA-NE 2005 Outstanding Contribution Award Dr. Yuanhua Ding: Pfizer, Inc., SAPA-NE coordinator Yuanhua is SAPA-NE coordinator since 2004(?). He helped to promote SAPA within the Cambridge site of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. This year he was able to help SAPA-NE to get the sponsorship from Pfizer, and invited Dr. W. Stephen Faraci, Senior director, head of biology at the Research Technology Center (RTC) of Pfizer to speak at our annual conference. Bingli Ma, M.D., Wyeth Research, SAPA-NE director Bingli became a SAPA member when SAPA founded since at 1993. Become SAPA Lifetime member at 2004 and SAPA-NE executive committee member in 2003. For the past over ten years she participated many activity and does her best for SAPA served and fundraised for SAPA-NE at 2004. She raised Gold sponsorship from Wyeth Research in 2004. Particularly, during 2005, she activities in SAPA have been expanded to in charge of coordinators organization, raising fund and co-chair SAPA-NE annual meeting.
Sue Ma, M.D., Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, SAPA-NE director Sue has been a member of SAPA-NE since 1999. She served as a coordinator of Vertex Pharmaceutical from 2001-2003. During that period time, she invited a speaker from Vertex to one of SAPA-NE symposiums and helped for registrations and other activities. Last year, she was elected to the EC as membership director. She has spent tremendous time in organizing and editing the membership list. Also she takes the responsibility on membership registration in all of the SAPA-NE activities since last year and website membership registration on daily basis. She was mainly involved in designing business cards for SAPANE ECs/EACs and spent lots of time and saved expenses for our association in this aspect. Recently two year, she becomes a co-chair for annual meetings, and works very hard for the technology and career exhibition, reception organization, and help for registration. Ms. Ruhui Qiu, Arqule Inc., SAPA-NE director Ruhui joined SAPA-NE in 2001 and its leadership team since 2003. She served as SAPANE coordinator at ArQule, Inc. and helped fundraising and speaker invitation from ArQule for several years. When she became an EC member, she actively participated in meeting organization, registration and logistics. She was one of the chairperson for 2005 SAPA-NE Chinese New Year Party. She spent a great deal of effort organizing the event and it turned out to be a great success. Liqiang Derek Tou, M.D., Ph.D, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, SAPA-NE Director Dr. Tou joined SAPA-NE in June 2004 and became SAPA-NE executive committee member in September, 2004. Dr. Tou has been actively involved in all SAPA-NE events and shows SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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great enthusiasm to devote himself to the growth of this organization - he helped to organize and coordinate dancing parties, and helped with events registrations and other activities. Dr. Tou’s biggest contribution to SAPA-NE is successfully inviting the VP of oncology at Novartis to present at the 8th annual meeting, and getting sponsorship from Novatis as a Platinum Sponsor. Dr. Herong Yang: SAPA-NE Webmaster, Open Channel Solutions Herong became SAPA-NE Webmaster this year. Within a short period of time, he revived the SAPA-NE Website with a major facelift, redefined functional sections and a search tool. The revived Website immediately attracted more visitors, and got listed by major Internet search engines like Google and Yahoo. While maintaining the Website up to date, Herong has also established group mailing facilities and guidelines that greatly improved the communications among SAPA-NE executive committee members and coordinators. For our annual conference preparation, Herong designed and well maintained the new conference web pages and mailing facilities that helped attracting conference participants and sponsors. His effort has made a significant contribution to the promotion of our 2005’ annual conference. Dr. Liping Zhou, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, SAPA-NE director Liping was SAPA-NE coordinator since 2003. She helped to raise platinum sponsorship from Novartis for SAPA-NE 2004 annual meeting. She became a SAPA-NE director in 2004 and is in charge of SAPA-NE membership. She spent a lot of effort to reorganize the membership list thus facilitate the communication between the executive committee and its members. She helped tremendously with registration for several meetings and symposiums. She was the co-chair for SAPA-NE Jan. 05 scientific symposium. She is the co-chair of SAPA-NE 2005 annual meeting and helped the fund-raising from Novartis again this year.
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2005 SAPA-NE Outstanding Corporate Award Winners
Corporate Sponsors of the SAPA-NE 8th Annual Conference Platinum Sponsor: Eisai Research Institute, Inc. Eisai Research Institute, Inc. (http://www.eisai.com) is a global human health care corporation striving for innovative solutions in the prevention, cure, and care for the health and well-being of people worldwide. In the past few years, Eisai has supported SAPA-NE activities both financially and through its employees. This year, Eisai is the lead corporate sponsor for the last two SAPA-NE annual conferences. Eisai’s support has made SAPA-NE to be a strong organization in promoting pharmaceutical science and technology, and has built an excellent example for Eisai to be a leading global company to improve human healthcare.
Platinum Sponsor: Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research The Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) is Novartis’ global research organization. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and with research facilities around the world, its mission is to develop innovative medicines for patients worldwide. Scientists at Novartis Institutes are blazing a new path in drug discovery by integrating various scientific disciplines, fostering interaction among scientists from within and outside of Novartis, and developing partnerships with academic research institutions and biotechnology companies to move beyond the traditional boundaries of translational research. Research at Novartis Institutes begins and ends with the patient. Recent scientific advances, such as the sequencing of the human and other genomes, have catalyzed a unique opportunity for discovering drugs that can address the underlying causes of disease. Novartis Institutes is capitalizing on such advances by positioning itself at the intersection of genomics and medicine. Novartis’ key attributes include scientifically focusing on medicines to address the basic molecular mechanisms underlying disease, organizationally pursuing a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary structure built around human genetics, model systems, imaging technologies, and chemical diversity, and culturally building activities on extensive SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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and deep collaborations with scientific innovators in academic organizations and biotechnology companies. Novartis Institutes currently has areas of concentration in; cardiovascular disease; dermatology/immunopathology; diabetes and metabolism; genetic therapy; infectious diseases; nervous system disorders; oncology; musculoskeletal; respiratory diseases; and transplantation. Research at Novartis Institutes is truly a worldwide endeavor, with research facilities located in the following locations: Basel, Switzerland; Horsham and London, UK; Vienna, Austria; Tsukuba, Japan; East Hanover, NJ; Novartis Institutes Headquarters, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Gold Sponsor: ALTANA Research Institute
ALTANA Research Institute (ARI) in Waltham, MA (www.ari.altanapharma.com) is the entrepreneurial biotechnology division of ALTANA Pharma AG (www.altanapharma.com), the pharmaceutical division of ALTANA AG (NYSE: AAA). ALTANA Pharma, an international group with over 8200 employees and more than 30 subsidiaries worldwide, has been experiencing remarkable growth. As a research-driven, international pharmaceutical company, ALTANA Pharma invests almost 20% of sales into research (total sales in 2004: 2.1 billion EUR). ARI is exploring innovative technologies to support the company's drug discovery efforts. The ARI team has developed state-of-the-art automated genomics and proteomics research capabilities as well as a sophisticated bioinformatics platform. Our scientists are applying the technology platform toward the identification of new therapeutic approaches for treatment of inflammatory/respiratory diseases, gastrointestinal disorders and cancer. ARI is growing and provides a challenging environment for enthusiastic researchers. Our multidisciplinary project teams work closely together, driving science to value. We are now continuing that growth and progressing forward.
Gold Sponsor: ArQule, Inc. ArQule, Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in research and development of next-generation smallmolecule cancer therapeutics based on its innovative Activated Checkpoint TherapySM (ACTSM) platform. ACTSM compounds are intended to improve the way cancer patients are treated because they selectively kill cancer cells and spare normal cells by restoring and activating cellular checkpoints that are defective in cancer. In addition to advancing its own programs, ArQule continues to advance the drug discovery efforts of pharmaceutical collaborators by providing high-quality library design and high throughput synthesis to enhance and accelerate lead generation and optimization using its proprietary Automated Molecular Assembly Plant (AMAP™) technology platform. ArQule has active collaborations with Pfizer, Novartis, and Sankyo.
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Merck & Co., Inc. is a global research-driven pharmaceutical company dedicated to putting patients first. Established in 1891, Merck discovers, develops, manufactures and markets vaccines and medicines in over 20 therapeutic categories. The company also devotes extensive efforts to increase access to medicines through far-reaching programs that not only donate Merck medicines but help deliver them to the people who need them. Merck also publishes unbiased health information as a not-for-profit service. For more information, visit www.merck.com.
Silver Sponsor: Abbott Bioresearch Center (ABC)
Abbott Bioresearch Center (ABC) is the Worcester-based biotechnology drug discovery and biologics manufacturing unit of Abbott Laboratories, one of the world's leading health care companies. The 440,000-sq. ft. facility is located 35 miles west of Boston on a 30-acre landscaped site, and houses 685 employees. The rationale behind R&D programs at Abbott Laboratories and ABC represents a paradigm shift in how innovative medicines are discovered and developed. Until now, large pharmaceutical houses have, for the most part, focused only on the development of small orally available medicines while biotech companies have primarily focused on biologic based medicines. Abbott Laboratories, with its unique blend of biologics and small molecule drug discovery capabilities at ABC and its well established and broad based small molecule drug discovery teams in Chicago and Germany, has the freedom to focus its drug discovery effort on! the best disease targets and develop biologic or a small molecule medicines as needed. ABC combines the innovative spirit of biotechnology with the stability of a big pharmaceutical company. Between ABC and Abbott Park we have some of the best scientists in the country who are working with cutting-edge technologies. Specific to ABC there is a focus on monoclonal antibodies and small molecules, both of which promise to deliver high quality compounds for critical therapeutic areas. Abbott Bioresearch Center is part of Abbott Laboratories Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development (GPRD). Please visit the Abbott GPRD website for more information about this organization. Silver Sponsor: Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ARIAD is engaged in the discovery and development of breakthrough medicines to treat cancer by regulating cell signaling with small molecules. The Company is developing a comprehensive approach to patients with cancer that addresses the greatest medical need – aggressive and advanced-stage SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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cancers for which current treatments are inadequate. ARIAD also has an exclusive license to pioneering technology and patents related to certain NF-κB treatment methods, and the discovery and development of drugs to regulate NF-κB cell-signaling activity, which may be useful in treating certain diseases. Additional information about ARIAD can be found on the web at http://www.ariad.com.
Silver Sponsor: AVEO
AVEO is a privately held, product-focused biopharmaceutical company in Cambridge, Massachusetts positioned to revolutionize cancer drug discovery and development. AVEO employs powerful, proprietary genetic model systems to discover and develop drugs against essential targets critical to the origin, maintenance and spread of malignant tumors. This novel high-throughput in vivo technology platform enables the rapid functional identification and prioritization of only the most relevant drug targets – dramatically improving the efficiency of drug discovery. Additionally, by identifying patient populations likely to be responsive to drug therapy, AVEO’s technology enables smarter drug development, decreased development costs and improved attrition. Silver Sponsor: Blue Sky Biotech Inc.
Blue Sky Biotech Inc. is a Contract Research Organization (CRO) located in Worcester, MA. The Company offers large pharma/biotech research services in the “Gene to Protein” space. Three laboratories are linked in Blue Sky’s service pipeline: Molecular Biology, Tissue Culture/Fermentation, and Protein Sciences. Blue Sky’s Management Team has over 50 yrs of experience in the industry, and delivers true pharma-grade expertise and assistance. Some popular services we provide are: Gene Synthesis, In Vitro Transcription, Vector Construction, Bacterial Fermentation, Baculoviral _Expression, Mammalian _Expression, Yeast _Expression, and Protein Purification. Blue Sky has developed a novel baculoviral system (IKM™) that allows for fast turnaround of “high-titer” viral amplification and remarkably consistent protein _expression. Blue Sky scientists have purified over 600 proteins, and frequently engage in research-scale method (process) development projects. Blue Sky is New England’s Drug Discovery “Lab Down the Hall”
Silver Sponsor: Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. Cell Signaling Technology, Inc. is dedicated to the development and distribution of innovative phosphospecific antibodies that are of the highest quality and SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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validated in multiple applications by CST scientists. CST’s antibodies enable specific assessments of kinase and pathway “activation state” in basic research, proteomics, target and drug discovery and clinical pathology. Moreover CST in partnership with ProQinase AG offers over 70 recombinant kinase enzymes, which combined with our phospho-specific antibodies are critical content in technologies that are central to targeted therapeutic discovery, including HTS, ELISA, Bio-Plex, and high content screening. For more information about us, please visit our website: www.cellsignal.com.
Silver Sponsor: Cyprotex Cyprotex is a provider of experimental and computational capabilities to support ADME/toxicity and pharmacokinetics assessment for drug discovery partners. Its core products include the Cloe Screen? In vitro ADME/toxicity service, and Cloe PK - a pharmacokinetics prediction system which integrates core ADME and physicochemical compound data to predict compound levels in plasma and major organs in the body. This unique combination of technologies is aimed at improving pharmaceutical productivity by improving the quality of compound libraries and drug candidates progressing through the drug pipeline. Cyprotex is based in the UK and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CRX).
Silver Sponsor: Sepracor Inc. Sepracor Inc. is a research-based pharmaceutical company dedicated to treating and preventing human disease through the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative pharmaceutical products that are directed toward serving unmet medical needs. Sepracor's drug development program has yielded an extensive portfolio of pharmaceutical compound candidates, including candidates for the treatment of respiratory, urology and central nervous system disorders. XOPENEX® brand levalbuterol HCl inhalation solution is our first self-developed and self-commericialized product for asthma therapy. Sepracor's corporate headquarters are located in Marlborough, Massachusetts. http://www.sepracor.com.
Silver Sponsor: Pfizer
Pfizer Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals and many of the world's best-known consumer brands. Our innovative, value-added products improve the quality of life of people SAPA-NE 2005 8th Annual Conference
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around the world and help them enjoy longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The company has three business segments: health care, animal health and consumer health care. Our products are available in more than 150 countries.
Silver Sponsor: Wyeth Wyeth BioPharma is dedicated to the successful development and manufacturing of recombinant protein biopharmaceuticals. Biopharmaceutical drugs are a rapidly growing segment of Wyeth's business. As a result of the success of several innovative products such as Enbrel® (etanercept), ReFacto® Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant) and BeneFix® Coagulation Factor IX (Recombinant), Wyeth is positioned at the forefront of the biopharmaceutical revolution that is transforming disease treatment around the world. For the past six years, Wyeth has been supporting SAPA-NE activities both financially and through its employees. Wyeth executives, scientists and attorneys have addressed several SAPA-NE symposia and conferences. This year, Wyeth is the silver corporate sponsor. All of these actions demonstrate the company’s leadership, quality, integrity, respect for people, and spirit of collaboration. In summary, Wyeth’s support to SAPA-NE is an excellent example of its contribution to our community and society.
Co-organizer: MIT-CSSA
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Corporate Sponsors
P M UM NU PLLAATTIIN
G OLLD D GO
S SIILLVVEERR
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Exhibition and Reception Sponsors
SSCIENTIFIC INC.
Solution providers for custom chemistry
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