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Harlan Contract Research Services Workshop at NG30 Seeks to Improve Quality of Drug Candidates Selected for Later Development
A workshop to discuss ways of improving the quality of drugs entering into the preclinical stage of development will be led by Ciriaco Maraschiello, PhD, director of drug discovery and translational medicines for Harlan Contract Research Services (CRS), at the upcoming NG30 Drug Discovery Europe Summit in Madrid.
Ways to reduce the failure rate of candidates that get passed on to preclinical and clinical development will be discussed at the workshop titled “Changing the Paradigm in the Lead Identification Process for New Drug Candidates: Adding More Complexity at an Early Stage to Reduce Failure at a Later Stage?”
“In addition to demonstrating activity and efficacy using in vivo models at the proof of concept stage, the screening process should be completed using other key physiological data in an integrated profiling phase in order to determine the practicality of moving a compound forward,” Maraschiello said.
New research in metabolomics is helping scientists understand the underlying toxicity issues early on, but an integrated approach is needed to decrease the risk of drug failure at later stages. For example, because of the lack of translation of rodent models to humans, Maraschiello suggests researchers should consider using other species to improve prediction of winners.
“The goal of translational medicine is to identify the promising compounds and products sooner,” he added. “Harlan CRS is grouping together its expertise in areas such as metabolic profiling, genotoxicity, skin penetration, immunology, pharmacology and bioproducts — as well as its in-depth knowledge of regulatory requirements — to offer a range of tailored screening, profiling and modeling packages to help shorten the development cycle.”
The NG30 Summit will be held September 9-11 at the Sheraton Mirasierra Hotel and Spa in Madrid.
About Harlan Contract Research Services
Harlan Contract Research Services (CRS), a division of Harlan Laboratories, Inc., is a privately held provider of essential, preclinical and nonclinical contract research services to the global pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, animal health, agrochemical and chemical industries. With laboratory locations in Germany, Spain, Switzerland and UK, Harlan CRS’ focus is on providing customers with products and services to optimize the discovery and safety of medicines and compounds. For more information, please visit www.harlan.com/crs.
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