1. Scrip
  2. >>R&D

Post-Genomics

 
• By Mark Ratner

With so much genomics data and putative drug targets to sift through, drug developers cannot risk making research resource allocation decisions before correlating gene and protein function with a disease process. The need has spawned a new generation of post-genomics companies focused on developing tools for validating drug targets, including smart screening methodologies and cell-based assays, and on ways to better organize and characterize genomics and proteomics data.

A year ago, Nobel Laureate Philip Sharp of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology cautioned against overstating the power of technology to address biological questions. "You've first got to understand the disease process," he explained, "then you'll understand how to intervene in it…If you can't bring the technology in contact with the disease and understand the nature of the disease, you will let the technology per se drive your thinking. And you will find it very hard to be successful." (See"Five Perspectives from the Ivory Tower," START-UP, January 1999 [A#1999900013.) Ira Mellman, PhD, of the Yale University School of Medicine and founder of the cell biology/target validation start-up, Cellular Genomics Inc. , is more blunt: "As spectacular as high-throughput genomic and proteomic advances have been," he says, "they are all coming to a halt at the door of cell biology."

They're right, to be sure. So much genomics data exist, so many putative drug targets are being uncovered, so much...

Welcome to Scrip

Create an account to read this article

Already a subscriber?

More from R&D

The Expanding MASH Market: How Rezdiffra, Wegovy Might Coexist

 
• By Joseph Haas

FDA approval of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy for MASH was almost as anticipated as approval of the first drug, Madrigal's Rezdiffra. Now, the MASH treatment paradigm should evolve.

Pipeline Watch: Eight Approvals And Five Phase III Readouts

Pipeline Watch is a weekly snapshot of selected late-stage clinical trial events and approvals announced by pharmaceutical and biotech companies at medical and industry conferences, in financial and company presentations, and in company releases and statements.

Alnylam Pairs Zilebesiran With Diuretics After Phase II Endpoint Miss In Hypertension

 
• By Manas Mishra

Alnylam and Roche refine zilebesiran’s Phase III trial design after a Phase II miss, focusing on patients on diuretics.

AstraZeneca Faces Close Race With Mineralys After Phase III Hypertension Readout

 
• By Andrew McConaghie

There is little to divide the Phase III results for the two aldosterone synthase inhibitors, though AstraZeneca’s combination and cardiovascular outcomes studies could bear fruit in the long-term.

More from Scrip

Sanofi’s Wayrilz Gets Out Of The Blocks With First US Approval For ITP

 
• By Alexandra Shimmings

The FDA go-ahead makes it the first for a BTK inhibitor in immune thrombocytopenia. Sanofi hopes it will mark the start of a number of indications for rilzabrutinib.

Alnylam Pairs Zilebesiran With Diuretics After Phase II Endpoint Miss In Hypertension

 
• By Manas Mishra

Alnylam and Roche refine zilebesiran’s Phase III trial design after a Phase II miss, focusing on patients on diuretics.

Quick Listen: Scrip’s Five Must-Know Things

 
• By Ian Haydock

In this week's episode: Lilly’s orforglipron strong in diabetic obesity; Ascletis confident in oral GLP-1 challenger; myostatin drugs progress for obesity; an interview with OneSource’s CEO; and an analysis of Dupixent’s pipeline-in-a-product success.