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Cell-Based Assays
Improved platforms and techniques for drug discovery, development and toxicity testing
22nd September 2010, BSG House, London, UK
Background Info
Key Speakers
Dr. Maria Flocco, Senior Director, Lead Discovery and Structural Biology & Biophysics, Pfizer
Dr. Maite de los Frailes, Manager of Screening and Compound Profiling, Molecular Discovery Research, GlaxoSmithKline
Dr. Priya Kunapuli, Director, In Vitro Sciences, External Discovery and Pre-Clinical Sciences, Merck Research Laboratories
Dr. Stefan O. Mueller, Global Head, Early, Genetic and Molecular Toxicology, Merck Serono
Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, Director, MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburgh
Dr. Matthew Peters, Principal Scientist, Lead Generation, AstraZeneca
Dr. Nick Thomas, Principal Scientist, GE Healthcare
Dr. Rochdi Bouhelal, Senior Investigator, Novartis
Dr. Peter Sartipy, Senior Principal Scientist & Project Manager, Cellartis
Dr. Julian Burke, Chief Executive Officer, Genetix
Dr. Dusko Ilic, Senior Lecturer in Stem Cell Science, Kings College London
Dr. Jurgen Moll, Director, Department of Cell Biology & Oncology, Nerviano Medical Sciences
Dr. Stephan Heyse, Head of Lead Discovery Informatics, Genedata
Despite spiralling R&D costs, 90% of lead candidates identified by current in vitro systems fail to become drugs. Setbacks including poor efficacy and unanticipated side effects remain significant challenges, frequently undetected in animal and pre-clinical testing.
New advances in microarray, label-free and stem cell platforms are facilitating faster screening using human cells and dramatically improving next generation models.
This 3-day event, comprising pre-conference workshop and two-day meeting, provides practical insights into the latest developments in this exciting field. With an international faculty of leading experts, accelerate your product launches with insights from key decision makers.
By attending Cell-Based assays conference, you will obtain distilled insights from outstanding speakers, in key areas including:
Whole-cell screening for GPCR ligands
Direct small-molecule kinase activation
Advances and challenges in label-free technologies
Induced pluripotent and hESCs for drug discovery
Embryonic stem cell-derived hepatocytes and adult liver cells for CYP450 toxicity evaluation
Accelerated high-content screening with human cardiac cells
Neural progenitor cells for HT/uHT testing
Three-dimensional primary cell cultures for drug development
Cell migration and uptake assays
Primary and three-dimensional culture methods for pharmacological profiling
Who should attend?
Presidents, Chief Executive Officers, VPs, Global Heads, Chief Scientific Officers, Directors, Principal Scientists, Franchise Heads and Investigators in:
Bioanalytical Development
High-Throughput/High-Content Screening Operations
Compound Profiling
Drug Discovery/Validation
Drug Delivery
Lead Generation
In Vitro Sciences
ADMET
Pre-clinical Development
Medicinal Chemistry
Toxicology
Stem Cell Technologies & Platforms
Pharmacovigilance and Safety Testing
Chemistry and Bioapplications
GPCR/Kinases/Molecular Pharmacology
External/Contract Research
Pharmacokinetics/Pharmacodynamics
Global Research and Development
Business Development
Investment and Venture Capital
Workshop
Pre-conference Workshop, Tuesday 22th April 2010
Label-Free Cellular Assays: The Relevant Future of Drug Discovery
Led by: Dr. Ryan McGuinness, Principal, Ryan McGuinness Consultants
Dr. Matthew Peters, Principal Scientist, Lead Generation, AstraZeneca
Timings: 09:30 - 10:00 Coffee & Registration
10:00 - 15:00 Workshop
Timing includes lunch and refreshment breaks
The purpose of the workshop is to allow you to engage in knowledge sharing with your peers in a smaller, less formal environment than the main conference. As such, the audience size will typically be no more than 20 participants in order to enable maximum interaction between the workshop leader and the delegates. The format is also more interactive, with less emphasis on lecture-style presentations and more emphasis on group discussions, exercises and Q&A sessions.
A review of Label-free cell based assays - what they are, how they work and where they fit.
Today a majority of compound screening campaigns performed by the Biopharmaceutical industry rely on cell-based assays for one particular reason: cell-based assays enable functional measures of target activation in a more relevant and informative setting when compared to biochemical assays. Label-free cellular assays are driving this paradigm forward with their exquisite sensitivity, robustness, ease of use and flexibility. These assays are now performed routinely throughout early drug discovery from target identification and validation to primary screening, lead identification and lead optimization and into safety and toxicology. Through their sensitivity to endogenous levels of receptor targets in cell types closely aligned to the disease processes under study, these technologies provide highly accurate models of complex biological states in formats compatible with industrialized drug screening.
During this workshop we will review the leading, commercially available label-free cellular assay platforms and discuss their applications, advantages and disadvantages. We will have a full discussion of the underlying technology of each platform and compare their abilities to advance various stages of the drug discovery process. We will also explore where label-free technologies fit in the process and how they can be utilized to promote better decision making about which lead candidates to advance. The future of these exciting new technologies is in their ability to create opportunities for researchers to put a higher degree of cell biology into their drug discovery in ways that until now were unattainable.
Lessons Learned
In-depth understanding of the leading label-free cellular assay technologies currently on the market.
Discussion of label-frees placement in the drug discovery process.
Advantages and disadvantages of adopting label-free cell based assay technologies.
Case studies illustrating the utility of label-free assays.
Discussion of the future directions of these technologies.
About your workshop leader
Ryan McGuinness was trained in genetics and cell biology at the University of California at Davis. Since 1988 he has worked in several biotechnology companies and spent time as a private research consultant. His research background encompasses broad areas of molecular cell biology including gene therapy, cellular therapeutics, receptor-mediated signal transduction and functional pharmacology. Ryan has also held customer-facing positions related to the introduction of novel technologies to the Biopharmaceutical industry. He has most recently contributed his expertise to the development and commercialization of the Cell Key System family of label-free products at MDS Analytical Technologies. Working at the forefront of label-free cell based assays Ryan has developed numerous applications, published multiple scientific communications and lead collaborations world wide with well-known drug discovery teams from companies like Merck, Amgen, J & J, Novartis and AstraZeneca.
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