LGND is included in today's CalBio update:
Thursday September 25 8:30 AM EDT
Company Press Release
CalBioSummit `97 Highlights Using `New Biotechnology
Toolbox' to Reduce Time And Money Required to Develop
New Drugs
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- BIOCOM/san diego, a trade association representing
157 local biotechnology companies, spotlights how San Diego companies are employing The New
Biotechnology Toolbox to develop highly differentiated products for intractable diseases.
``Today it takes about $350 million and seven years to get a new drug to market,'' stated Robert S.
Whitehead, CEO of Trega Biosciences and Chairman of CalBioSummit `97. ``Approximately 40%
of this money and 50% of the time are consumed identifying appropriate new drug candidates.''
The healthcare environment mandates that new drugs must have significant benefit over existing
drugs. Formularies will no longer list a dozen ace inhibitors, protease or serotonin uptake inhibitors.
This forces companies to develop highly differentiated products that treat or cure intractable
diseases and to be the first to market.
``Typically, 10,000 potential drug candidates need to be screened to identify a single compound that
can be advanced to pre-clinical testing,'' stated Whitehead. ``Using genomics/target identification,
ultra high throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry, companies can screen upwards of
100,000 molecules a day and shorten the money and time requirements to get to clinical testing.''
Whitehead will moderate The New Biotechnology Toolbox session of CalBioSummit where three
San Diego companies -- Trega Biosciences (Nasdaq:TRGA), Sequana Therapeutics
(Nasdaq:SQNA) and Aurora BioSciences (Nasdaq:ABSC) -- will showcase their discovery
methods.
Lawrence D. Muschek, Ph.D., President R&D for Trega, will elaborate on how Combinatorial
Chemistry is used to focus on small molecules and to reduce drug discovery costs. Kevin J.
Kinsella, CEO and President of Sequana Therapeutics, Inc. will speak on Target Identification. ``As
a gene discovery firm, Sequana focuses on identifying the causes of genetic-associated diseases,''
stated Kinsella. ``Using Target Identification Technology, we recently reported finding ''gene
regions`` that contain the genetic cause for osteoporosis, a bone disease afflicting more than 100
million people worldwide.''
The ``New Biotechnology Toolbox'' segment will conclude with comments from Gordon Foulkes,
CSO of Aurora BioSciences Corporation on High Through-Put Screening. ``The major rate limiting
factor impacting the drug discovery process is the ability to screen large number of compounds for
activity,'' stated Foulkes. ``Ultra high-throughput screening -- which can screen more than 100,000
compounds a day -- is designed to overcome the limitations associated with traditional drug design.
The afternoon session of CalBioSummit will take more of a financial turn, beginning with a panel
discussion by investment bankers from Hambrecht & Quist, Robertson Stephens & Company,
Vector Securities, Lehman Brothers, Smith Barney and Cruttenden Roth.
Following the investment banking panel, 12 biotechnology and 6 medical companies will present
their business strategies in three concurrent breakout sessions. The biotechnology companies
presenting include: Agouron Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AGPH), Alliance Pharmaceuticals
(Nasdaq:ALLP), Amylin Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:AMLN), DepoTech Corporation
(Nasdaq:DEPO), Dura Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:DURA), IDEC Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:IDPH),
La Jolla Pharmaceutical (Nasdaq:LJPC), Ligand Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:LGND), Mycogen
Corporation (Nasdaq:MYCO), PharmaPrint, Inc. (Nasdaq:PPRT), Sibia Neurosciences
(Nasdaq:SIBI), and Vical, Inc. (Nasdaq:VICL). The medical device companies presenting include:
Advanced Tissue Sciences (Nasdaq:ATIS), Alaris Medical Systems (Nasdaq:ALRS), Biosite
Diagnostics (Nasdaq:BSTE), Molecular Biosystems (NYSE:MB), Safeskin Corporation
(Nasdaq:SFSK), and Vista Medical Technologies (Nasdaq:VMTI).
CalBioSummit `97 will conclude with a ``Meet the Companies'' sunset reception overlooking the
San Diego harbor featuring up to 40 biotechnology and biomedical device companies in a poster
session.
CalBioSummit is an annual event hosted by Southern California's most influential regional industry
trade association, BIOCOM/san diego. Founded in 1995 as a merger between the Biomedical
Industry Council and the San Diego Biocommerce Association, BIOCOM/san diego is a leading
non-profit public advocacy group. It proactively deals with issues that affect the growth of
bio-agriculture, biotechnology, and medical device companies in this region, including: securing
reliable water sources, regulatory reform, retaining manufacturing facilities, focusing financing sources
and fostering continued entrepreneurship from San Diego's academic underpinnings, University of
California, San Diego (UCSD), San Diego State University and the County's community colleges.
BIOCOM/san diego also interfaces with the Biotechnology Industry Organization, the Health
Industry Manufacturers Association, the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, the United
ArgiBusiness League, UCSD's CONNECT, as well as with San Diego City and County
government officials, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the San Diego
Chapter of the American Electronic Association, and The Greater San Diego Chamber of
Commerce.
To attend CalBioSummit `97, please call Dallas FanFares at 800-203-8950 for registration
information or visit the BIOCOM/san diego website at www.biocom.org.
CalBioSummit `97
Presenting Company Web Site Addresses - Alphabetical Listing
Agouron, www.agouron.com, Alliance Pharmaceuticals, www.allp.com, Alaris
Medical Systems, www.alarismed.com, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, www.amylin.com,
Aurora Biosciences, www.aurorabio.com, Biosite, NA, DepoTech,
www.depotech.com, Dura Pharmaceuticals, www.durapharm.com, IDEC
Pharmaceuticals, NA, La Jolla Pharmaceuticals, NA, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, NA,
Molecular Biosystems, NA, Mycogen, www.mycogen.com, PharmaPrint,
www.pharmaprint.com, SafeSkin, www.safeskin.com, Sequana Therapeutics,
www.sequana.com, Sibia Neurosciences, www.sibia.com, Trega Biosciences,
www.trega.com, Vical, NA, Vista Medical Technologies, www.vistamt.com
SOURCE BIOCOM/san diego
More news for referenced ticker symbols: ABSC, AGPH, ALLP, ALRS, AMLN, ATIS, BSTE,
DEPO, DURA, IDPH, LGND, LJPC, MB, MYCO, PPRT, SFSK, SIBI, SQNA, TRGA, VICL,
VMTI, and related industries: healthcare, medical. |
