Clearity Foundation to Hold Second in Personalized Medicine in Oncology Series
The second in The Clearity Foundation’s Personalized Medicine in
Oncology Series will provide an interactive discussion of whether
physicians and payers, who bridge the gap between technology developers
and patients, are likely to
be allies or antagonists in making personalized medicine a reality for
patients. The panel will look at the commercial challenges of
personalized medicine from both of these perspectives and will provide
insights as to where opportunities exist for significant
advances in patient outcomes.
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 22 2012; 5:00pm to 7:30pm
Venue: 10300 Campus Point Dr., Curie Room, San Diego
Registration: $50
RSVP: Please email patpio@clearityfoundation.org
Moderated by: Michael Pollock, Reynolds Pollock & Associates
Panelists:
Payer perspective:
Bryan Dechairo, MD, Senior Director, Head of Extramural R&D, Medco Research Institute
Physician perspective:
Bridgette Duggan, MD, Gynecologic Oncologist, Southcoast Gynecologic Oncology Inc.
The Clearity Foundation is the only foundation in America dedicated to
improving therapeutic options for women with ovarian cancer now. We
believe we are the first organization making personalized medicine a
reality for women with this disease. By improving
the information used in making treatment decisions, our goal is for
women with ovarian cancer to live longer, healthier lives. More at
www.clearityfoundation.org.
FDA Clears Gen-Probe's PANTHER® System for use with APTIMA Combo 2® Assay
SAN DIEGO, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Gen-Probe Incorporated (NASDAQ: GPRO) announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its PANTHER system, a fully automated and integrated molecular testing platform designed with the flexibility to handle a wide range of testing needs. The PANTHER system can initially be used to test for the common sexually transmitted infections Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae with the APTIMA Combo 2 assay.
"FDA clearance of our PANTHER system represents a significant milestone for Gen-Probe," said Carl Hull, Gen-Probe's chairman and chief executive officer. "It is a credit to the scores of talented and dedicated scientists and engineers who made it happen. Just as TIGRIS® revolutionized molecular diagnostic screening with an unparalleled level of throughput and automation, we believe PANTHER will continue that revolution by bringing the power of fully-automated, sample-to-result capabilities to low- and medium-volume labs. This clearance will now allow the Company to significantly increase its addressable market domestically, following on the successful international launch of PANTHER in late 2010. The unique capabilities of future versions of the PANTHER system will provide Gen-Probe with the opportunity to enter new and attractive markets in the future such as viral load testing."
Key features of the PANTHER system include:
Fully integrated "sample-in, results-out" automation. A single operator can process 275 samples in eight hours on the PANTHER system. Hands-on time is less than an hour, yielding seven hours of walk-away freedom per shift. For larger customers, the PANTHER system can continue running unattended, processing up to 500 samples in 12 hours.
Primary tube sampling with random access loading for maximum flexibility and productivity. Multiple assays can be run from a single sample, and operators have continuous access to samples, reagents and consumables.
A customer-driven design, intuitive software for ease of use, and remote diagnostics capabilities.
Extensive process controls including positive sample identification, liquid level detection, reagent dispense verification, and radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on fluid containers providing customers confidence in results.
A small footprint and compact profile with a width of 48 inches, a depth of 32 inches, and a height of 69 inches.
Gen-Probe will begin shipments of PANTHER systems to US customers during the second quarter of 2012. Additional APTIMA women's health assays such as APTIMA® Trichomonas vaginalis and APTIMA® HPV are expected to be added to the PANTHER menu as they progress through the regulatory process, and several other qualitative and quantitative assays are currently in development.
The PANTHER system builds on the success of Gen-Probe's TIGRIS system, which was the first fully automated, high-throughput molecular testing system for large laboratories. Since its launch in 2004, more than 650 TIGRIS systems have been installed at clinical diagnostic and blood screening laboratories around the world.
About Gen-Probe
Gen-Probe is a global leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of rapid, accurate and cost-effective molecular diagnostic products and services that are used primarily to diagnose human diseases, screen donated human blood, and ensure transplant compatibility. Gen-Probe is headquartered in San Diego and employs approximately 1,400 people. For more information, go to http://www.gen-probe.com.
Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this news release about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are forward-looking statements. These statements are often made through the use of words or phrases such as believe, will, expect, anticipate, estimate, intend, plan and would. For example, statements concerning possible or expected results of operations, regulatory approvals, the development and commercialization of new products, future sales and product menu offerings, growth opportunities, and plans of management are all forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Some of these risks include: (i) the risk that other assays will not be approved for use on the PANTHER system; (ii) the possibility that the market for the sale of our PANTHER system or other new products may not develop as expected; (iii) the risk that our intellectual property surrounding the PANTHER system will be invalidated; and (iv) the risk that we may not be able to compete effectively. This list includes some, but not all, of the factors that could affect our ability to achieve results described in any forward-looking statements. For additional information about risks and uncertainties we face and a discussion of our financial statements and footnotes, see documents we file with the SEC. We assume no obligation and expressly disclaim any duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release or to reflect the occurrence of subsequent events.
Contact:
Al Kildani
Sr. director, investor relations and
corporate communications
858-410-8653
SOURCE Gen-Probe Incorporated
Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc. And BioBlocks, Inc. Announce Sale Of A Joint Fragment Library
LA JOLLA, Calif., May 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc. (Zenobia), the leader in fragment-based lead discovery (FBLD) for CNS diseases and FBLD/structural biology services, and BioBlocks, Inc. (BioBlocks), a leader in medicinal chemistry services and novel building block products, announced today that they are adding a 284 compound fragment library to their product offerings. The library, ZB-Fragment Library 2, is ready for screening by all popular methods, contains soluble, verified protein binders, is shape and functionally diverse, and has an average molecular weight of 161.4 Da. The library was constructed by combining BioBlocks' unique expertise in medicinal chemistry and scaffold design with Zenobia's expertise in FBLD. Vicki Nienaber, Ph.D., President, CSO and founder of Zenobia, reported the first fragment-based crystallographic screening method (Nature Biotechnology 2000) and Robert Meadows, Ph.D. co-founder of Zenobia is an inventor of the SARbyNMR method (Science 1996). Industry veteran BioBlocks medicinal chemists have advanced numerous leads into preclinical and clinical development and have created a lead discovery platform capable of generating high quality patentable leads in a cost and time efficient manner.
"Our customers have experienced an impressive success-rate in identifying valuable hits with Zenobia Fragment Library 1 with many returning to purchase additional copies. Establishing a collaborative relationship with BioBlocks allows us to jointly provide Fragment Library 2 with added core diversity and medicinal chemistry readiness using BioBlocks' unique expertise in creating leads from its building blocks," said Dr. Nienaber. BioBlocks CEO, Dr. Pallai, said, "BioBlocks' core strength is the medicinal chemistry we utilize in collaborative drug discovery programs with our clients. Working with Zenobia allows us to take advantage of their unparalleled capabilities and experience in FBDD and SBDD and combine it with our expertise in fast fragment evolution, lead identification and optimizing compounds for pharmaceutical use. Our collaborative Fragment Library 2 provides a high quality starting point to generate lead compounds. With optimization, the final compounds are significantly more likely to occupy the high probability region of drug space than those developed from a typical HTS hit."
Like Library 1, Library 2 is a small, cherry picked selection of diverse chemotypes and shapes, selected for manageable flexibility and compact interactions with target sites. Fragment functional groups are selected for their medicinal chemistry readiness and pharmaceutical appeal. There is no overlap between Library 1 and Library 2 so screening both will provide a wider variety of initial hits. The compounds are all soluble (200mM in DMSO), so screening with different methods is straightforward.
Through consulting or collaborations, Zenobia and BioBlocks offer structural biology, FBLD and medicinal chemistry expertise in advancing SAR around fragment hits.
About Zenobia
Zenobia provides a commercial fragment library, and access to their structural biology, crystallography and fragment-based lead discovery expertise through partnerships, consulting and collaborations. Zenobia's internal programs combine fragment-based lead discovery with the expertise of biologists and clinicians to find treatments for devastating illnesses for which there is no disease altering treatment such as Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.
About BioBlocks
BioBlocks provides medicinal chemistry expertise to clients in the drug discovery community. In our collaborative projects we optimize partner's hits to leads and preclinical candidates. Our Leap-to-Lead platform addresses fundamental issues in drug discovery – the high attrition rate and lack of novelty found in typical HTS hits - by providing an alternative source for high quality tractable leads with multiple possible optimization pathways.
For additional information on BioBlocks, Inc., contact Dr. Peter Pallai at ppallai@bioblocks.com or visit www.bioblocks.com. For additional information on Library 2 please contact fragments@bioblocks.com or Zenobia, please see below.
For additional information on Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc., contact Dr. Vicki Nienaber at vicki@zenobiatherapeutics.com or visit www.zenobiatherapeutics.com. For additional information on Zenobia's Fragment Library 1 or 2, contact Erika Zehm at erika@zenobiatherapeutics.com.
SOURCE Zenobia Therapeutics, Inc.
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http://www.zenobiatherapeutics.com