SABPA Science & Technology Forum IX - Emerging Trend in Drug Development：Companion Diagnostics

When:         March 19, 2011（Saturday）8:30 am – 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 for new drug approval getting higher and higher, pharmaceutical companies begin to explore companion tests for the development of safer and more effective drugs.  The value of companion diagnostic tests has already been demonstrated by a number of marketed products, such as Hercep-Test for Herceptin and K-RAS mutation test for Erbutux and Vectibix.  Despite these proven successes and ever-increasing awareness of companion diagnostics, pharmaceutical companies still move slowly adopting the new paradigm of co-developing the companion tests along withnew drugs.  The regulatory hurdles, viable business strategies, physician acceptance, insurance coverage, and other barriers remain unsettled for this young filed.  At the SABPA Science & Technology forum IX, we invite opinion leaders in this field representing pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic companies and other interest groups to share 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 , Ph.D.  Founder and CEO 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.  EIR of Domain Associates
• Jian-Bing Fan, Ph.D.   Senior Director, Scientific Research, Illumina