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Tuesday June 16, 1:32 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: ArQule, Inc.
Drug Discovery Summit Points to Dramatic Shifts in
Pharmaceutical Discovery Paradigm
Convergence of Biology, Chemistry and Information Science Cited at Industry
Conference as Accelerating Pace of Discovery
Technology Companies Pioneering New Generation of Pharmaceuticals
NEW YORK, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- A new paradigm for pharmaceutical discovery and development is
rapidly emerging from developments at technology companies. This promises to accelerate the pace of
drug development to a level previously unknown and unimagined, according to a panel of leaders meeting
today at ''BIO '98'', the annual biotechnology industry conference being held this week in New York. The
convergence of biology, chemistry, information science and engineering at these companies is making it
possible to design and prepare a new drug for human testing in under three years, less than half the time
usually needed for such research, the experts agreed.
Moderating the ''Drug Discovery Jigsaw Puzzle'' panel, Joseph C. Hogan, Jr., Ph.D., Chief Scientific
Officer and Chairman of ArQule, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQL - news), noted: ''We are at the beginning of a new
era in which drug discovery can be conducted rapidly, efficiently, and much more predictably. As an
industry, we are no longer relying purely on serendipitous events. Rather, we can now focus in a
methodical way on matching up certain biological targets and certain chemistry-based structural 'themes',
to find novel and potentially valuable molecules. The clinical and commercial implications are huge.''
Dr. Hogan added: ''Each of the companies on this panel has adapted its own unique approach, based on a
variety of technologies or capabilities. More importantly, what we have in common is the ability to draw
together -- to integrate the various technology into a discovery continuum and that's what is transforming
the industry.''
Among the panelists were Steven C. Clark, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Discovery Research,
Wyeth-Ayerst Research; Colin Goddard, Ph.D., President, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Peter Hirth, Ph.D.,
Executive Vice President, SUGEN, Inc.; Dr. Hogan of ArQule; and Gregory Went, Ph.D., Executive Vice
President, CuraGen Corporation [Nasdaq:CRGN - news]. The panelists described how advances made in
the last 3-5 years in genomics, high throughput screening, biological targets, and computational chemistry
were transforming the drug discovery process.
Dr. Went, describing the impact of genomics on drug discovery, said: ''We are truly at an inflection point.
The era of looking at one gene at a time using traditional biology is rapidly being displaced by a new and
powerful approach. Through genomics, we finally have the ability to acquire a comprehensive
understanding of virtually all the genes underlying complex disorders like cancer, heart disease and
diabetes. With this understanding, the opportunity for accelerating the discovery of new targets for
therapeutic intervention, as well as new therapeutic agents, is tremendous.''
Focusing on high throughput screening, Dr. Goddard commented: ''Having pioneered high throughput
screening in the early '90's, we have seen the approach evolve into an enabling lead seeking engine that
unlocks the potential arising from the revolution in genomics, molecular biology and combinatorial
chemistry. Successful high throughput screening operations in the future will be flexible, responsive, high
capacity units closely integrated into the overall discovery process.''
The role of families of targets was examined by Dr. Hirth, who stated: ''SUGEN has focused its expertise
on specific families of targets with broad pharmaceutical utility. Through integration of key components
of the drug development process specific to these target families (target identification, target validation,
lead identification and optimization), SUGEN has been able to rapidly create a large portfolio of anticancer
and other potential therapeutic products.''
Finally, Dr. Clark examined how the integration of all these technologies by companies will be applied by
major pharmaceutical companies to drive their product pipelines in the future: ''Many companies have
driven the advancement of many new technologies such as genomics, high throughput screening, and
combinatorial chemistry. These and other technologies are essential for all drug discovery; we now
incorporate them into all our programs either through outside collaboration or by bringing them in-house.''
ArQule, Inc., the sponsor of the BIO '98 Drug Discovery panel, is a leading chemistry company in
accelerated drug discovery using its high throughput lead generation and lead optimization technologies.
ArQule has more than 30 drug discovery collaborations with biotech, pharmaceutical, agrichemical and
separations companies. ArQule is based in Medford, Mass.
For more information on ArQule, Inc., please visit the ArQule web site at arqule.com.
For more information on SUGEN, Inc., please visit the SUGEN web site at sugen.com.
For more information on OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., please visit the OSI web site at
osip.com.
SOURCE: ArQule, Inc.
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ArQule Inc (Nasdaq:ARQL - news)
CuraGen Corp (Nasdaq:CRGN - news)
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