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Articles

High-throughput PCR based diagnostics: Linking sample handling to molecular oncology risk groups

24 June 2010 | By Ehsan G. Karimiani, Stephan Mohr & Philip J. R. Day, University of Manchester

Cancer molecular pathology broadly relies on the comparison between diseased and normal tissues, with statistically validated differences revealing cancerassociated pathways. This approach, although comparatively one-dimensional, has been remarkably successful, enabling identification of many types of malignant biomarkers and providing the means to develop pharmaceutical agents directed against pertinent biological targets.…

Novel medicines development for cancer treatment

24 June 2010 | By Hans Winkler, Global Head Oncology & Biomarker Programs, Ortho Biotech Oncology Research & Development, Johnson & Johnson

The pharmaceutical industry has reached a critical phase in its evolution. The cost and time to develop novel medicines has become unsustainable3. Reasons for this may include a much higher demand on evidence of safety and efficacy, rapidly increasing costs of contract research and the tremendous pressure on pricing and…

RNAi-based therapies for the treatment of HIV

24 June 2010 | By Marc S. Weinberg and Fiona van den Berg, Antiviral Gene Therapy Research Unit, Department of Molecular Medicine and Haematology, University of Witwatersrand

Since the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) in 1998 and the demonstration of RNAi in mammalian cells in 2001, research into the mechanisms and applications of this pathway has moved swiftly. RNAi is capable of mediating potent and specific silencing of genes and has therefore shown promise in the development…

Trends in laboratory automation: From speed and simplicity to flexibility and information content

24 June 2010 | By Fernando A. Ramon Olayo, Manager, GlaxoSmithKline

The pharmaceutical industry has significantly influenced laboratory automation trends in the past two decades. The need to screen large collections of chemical entities in a short time with minimised consumption of reagents has driven a strong demand of parallelisation, automation, simplification and miniaturisation solutions from the suppliers of instruments, labware…

Cellular senescence as an anti-tumour mechanism

24 June 2010 | By Amancio Carnero, Scientist, Seville Biomedical Research Institute (IBIS/HUVR), Spanish National Research Council

One of the critical steps in human carcinogenesis is cellular immortalisation, a process in which cells must escape senescence and acquire an infinite lifespan. In the absence of immortalisation, although a cell might undergo malignant transformation, it could not proliferate indefinitely. Furthermore, it has been clearly established in vitro and…

Examining receptor activation: New technologies reveal how G protein-coupled receptors recognise ligands and talk to intracellular partners

24 June 2010 | By Thomas P. Sakmar, Laboratory of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry, Rockefeller University

Heptahelical G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are arguably the most important single class of pharmaceutical drug targets in the human genome. According to Overington, of the 266 human targets for approved drugs, a remarkable 27 per cent correspond to rhodopsin-like, or Family A, GPCRs. Despite recent dramatic advances in targeting of…

Raman spectroscopy for the analysis of drug products and drug manufacturing processes

9 May 2010 | By Prof. Thomas De Beer, Assistant-Professor, Process Analytical Technology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ghent

This article aims at supplying a concise overview on the application of Raman spectroscopic analysis methods within the pharmaceutical drug product manufacturing world. Firstly, there will be a focus on the rapid and nondestructive off-line analysis feasibility of Raman spectroscopy for final drug products. Herewith, several possible sources of error…

qPCR: Current technologies and future applications

9 May 2010 | By European Pharmaceutical Review

A diverse and widely applicable laboratory technique, qPCR is vital for the progression of drug discovery, enabling detection and quantification and commonly used for both diagnostic and basic research. This roundtable brings together experts from a wide range of pharmaceutical applications to discuss current technologies and future applications of qPCR…

Article 2: The implementation of rapid microbiological methods

9 May 2010 | By Michael J. Miller, Ph.D., President, Microbiology Consultants, LLC

This is the second in a series of articles on rapid microbiological methods that will appear in European Pharmaceutical Review during 2010. Method validation is the process used to confirm that an analytical procedure employed for a specific test is reliable, reproducible and suitable for its intended purpose. All analytical…

Finding novel targets for anticancer target discovery

9 May 2010 | By Wolfgang Link, Experimental Therapeutics Program, Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas (CNIO)

Advances in our understanding of the molecular basis of cancer together with novel approaches to interfere with signal transduction pathways have opened new horizons for anticancer target discovery. In particular, the image based large scale analysis of cellular phenotypes that arise from genetic or chemical perturbations paved the way for…

SBS Biopharmaceuticals Symposium: Exploring synergies across drug formats

9 May 2010 | By EPR

Biopharmaceuticals is a rapidly growing sector of the pharmaceutical industry. Major pharmaceutical companies have recognised this trend in recent years and defined ambitious targets for the proportion of their pipeline that is expected to be filled by novel biopharmaceuticals. It is inevitable that many of the scientists involved with small-molecule…

Implementation of appropriate assays and HTS technologies in drug discovery

9 May 2010 | By Sheraz Gul, Vice President, European ScreeningPort GmbH

In this article, an overview regarding advances in assay formats for specific target classes and options that should be considered when considering hardware will be given. There has been a significant growth in the assay and automation technologies that are available for compound screening activities and it is essential to…

The 58th ASMS Conference on Mass Spectrometry and Allied Topics

9 May 2010 | By EPR

The American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS) was formed in 1969 to promote and disseminate knowledge of mass spectrometry and allied topics. Membership includes over 7,500 scientists involved in research and development. Members come from academic, industrial and governmental laboratories. Their interests include advancement of techniques and instrumentation in mass…

‘Pharmaceutical Industry / University’ R&D collaboration on Process Analytical Technologies

9 May 2010 | By Professor Nicolas Abatzoglou, Chair, PAT in Pharmaceutical Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke

Process analytical technologies (PAT) are mature and well advanced in the classical chemical industry. Many successful industry/university R&D collaborations are aimed at the development of analytical methods and their application in process control. However, PAT in the pharmaceutical industry is a rather new field. It is precisely this latter reality…

ISSCR 8th Annual Meeting: International Society for Stem Cell Research

9 May 2010 | By EPR

The ISSCR Annual Meeting offers inspired research, new perspectives and networking with stem cell professionals from around the world. It creates a platform for the exchange of theoretical and applied information and skills, providing delegates with perspective, training and a forum to analyse the latest data.