Oxford Global’s interview with Araz Raoof of Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Juan-Miguel Jimenez of Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the lead up to the 16th Annual Drug Discovery Summit

Oxford Global is proud to present its 16th Annual Drug Discovery Summit and the co-located 3^rd Annual Discovery Chemistry & Drug Design Congress taking place in Berlin on the 8^th and 9^th of June 2015. Over the years the congress has taken place in Geneva, however this year it will be held at the Hotel Palace Berlin in Germany.

Our prestigious Summit brings together prominent decision makers working at the forefront of research into target based discovery, phenotypic screening, preclinical biomarkers, and medicinal chemistry. Over 250 delegates will be representing leading biotech companies, global pharmaceutical organisations and internationally renowned academic institutions.

In the lead up to the event, Oxford Global spoke with Araz Raoof, Scientific Affairs and Analysis at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Juan-Miguel Jimenez, Senior Director and Head of Chemistry at Vertex Pharmaceuticals speakers of the Summit to find out more about their insights and involvement within the industry.

We discussed key research challenges within the industry, and when we asked Araz Raoof her thoughts about what will drive drug discovery research in the future, she replied:

“I feel strongly that our focus should be on unmet medical needs. If we discover and develop innovative products to meet those needs then the rewards will certainly follow. The truth is you never know, early on, if a drug is going to be a blockbuster. Clinical attrition rates and the development experience are obviously critical factors in this regard as also, of course, are the market dynamics.”

 She also shared her thoughts on pre-competitive collaboration in drug discovery:

“I think this will be very important. When I first started working, research activities tended to be quite inwardly focused. Now I think we realise that to treat complex diseases we researchers cannot do it alone but need, instead, a more collaborative approach. We therefore need academic institutions, regulators, and health providers etc. as well as the data they are gathering and the observations they               make. The input of all these various actors will shape the future of healthcare. We must all work together to make R&D more flexible and relevant in the future.”

 Want to read more?

To view the full Q&A with Araz Raoof please visit: http://www.drugdiscovery-summit1.com/speakers/qa/    

We also sat down with Juan-Miguel Jimenez to discuss his thoughts on some of the promising new technologies for the drug discovery industry:

 “Beyond small molecules there is a lot of excitement about other modalities, such as RNAi, peptides and antibodies. There are another couple of technologies to consider. The first is that companies want new technologies to deliver these new drug modalities into patients, and nanoparticles for example are becoming very interesting. The second technology that we are very interested is gene editing. The technology isn’t quite there yet to deliver this to human beings, but there are exciting examples about bone marrow – if the disease is in the cells of your bone marrow, you can take the cells out of the body, treat them, and then put them back inside. Now clearly you can’t do that for all diseases, but we know that gene editing could well be the most exciting future technology for drug discovery. CRIPSR seems to be the most exciting in this area, and there has been a lot of effort directed into this field.”

Want to read more?

To view the full Q&A with Juan-Miguel Jimenez please visit: http://www.drugdiscovery-summit1.com/speakers/qa/

Reserve Your Place Today!

Registration is open and with only a limited number of places available, please contact Guillaume Alonso on [email protected] or call on +44(0)1865 248 455 today. Your booking also gives you access to the co-located 3^rd Annual Discovery Chemistry & Drug Design Congress 2015.

To know more about the Summit, the topics and speakers, download your agenda here: http://www.drugdiscovery-summit1.com/download-agenda-marketing/

If you’re looking to present a poster, we have limited spaces available on a strictly first come first served basis. For further information regarding our poster presentations, or to find out more about this or any of our upcoming events in our Drug Discovery series 2015 please contact Guillaume Alonso on [email protected] or call us on +44(0)1865 248455.