Is Drug Discovery Really Like Playing Poker?

February 14, 2008

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Derek Lowe writes about the "hot" field of activity-based protein profiling, which he explains via a critique of a current paper out of Benjamin Cravatt's lab at Scripps. His paper tested the most effective ways to photoaffinity-label histone deacetylase enzymes and found that in vitro and in vivo results are not always the same. Lowe emphasizes that in drug discovery especially, assumptions should never be made. "If you say 'in vitro', I say 'whole cells'. If you've got it working in cells, I'll call for mice. Then I'll see your mice and raise you some dogs. Get your compounds as close to reality as you can before you pass judgment on them,” he writes at In the Pipeline.

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Andrews joins Life Tech from GE Molecular Diagnostics, where he served as a segment leader following GE's 2010 acquisition of Clarient, where Andrews was CEO. Andrews has also held executive positions with Abbott Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics, and Immucor.

Stephen O'Brien has left the National Cancer Institute's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity after 25 years to help launch a genome bioinformatics program at St. Petersburg University in Russia. O'Brien received a $5 million grant from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science last year under a program that aims to lure big-name researchers to Russia. Over the coming three years, O'Brien will spend at least four months per year in Russia working at the center, which is scheduled to open in May.

Saladax Biomedical said today that President and CEO Edward Erickson has resigned due to personal and family reasons, and that he will be replaced by Kevin Harter on an interim basis. Erickson will remain a member of the company's board of directors. Harter is a co-founder and senior VP of the Life Sciences Greenhouse, and he has served as executive chairman at Saladax.
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Is Drug Discovery Really Like Playing Poker?

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