XenoGesis Limited managing director Dr Richard Weaver will give a personal, insightful account of bioscience outsourcing services at this year’s SMi ADMET conference being held in London from 9th – 10th July . As former Associate Principal Scientist in drug metabolism & pharmacokinetics (DMPK) at AstraZeneca, and founder of his own CRO, Dr Weaver can talk about the business of outsourcing research and development (R&D) from both sides of the fence.
In his presentation on the first day, Dr Weaver will address the need to improve success rates in drug discovery against the spiralling costs of R&D. According to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) these costs have risen from $65 billion in 2002 to an estimated $140 billion in 2014, with the cost of bringing a drug to market averaging $1.3 billion. He will reflect on the changing landscape for large pharmaceutical companies and the increasing role CROs play in servicing their needs. Dr Weaver will also Chair proceedings on the second day which look in particular at drug transporters and their effect on the understanding of drug-to-drug interactions and toxicity.
Dr Weaver says: “After six months of running my own CRO I want to help conference delegates to get a real sense of the possibilities for strategic alliances between partners in DMPK. Whether outsourcing can fix the problem of rising R&D costs and reduce the high risk nature of our work remains to be debated, but new drug discovery requires both capacity and creativity from CROs if we are make significant progress.”
XenoGesis, based in Nottingham UK, is co-sponsoring this year’s ADMET Conference which will gather over 80 international experts in the field of drug metabolism. Their expertise is to understand the way a drug compound behaves in the human body and therefore its performance and impact. Industry specialists, like Dr Weaver’s company, can save the giant pharmaceutical companies millions by stopping the development of drugs destined to fail. This year’s attendees will hear presentations from senior experts as well as case studies from recent drug development programmes. The conference will address the barriers that are currently faced by the PK/PD community and also how recent discoveries have improved the understanding of the mechanisms involved in ADME-Tox. It will also address the new technologies and techniques being developed to overcome the classic physiological barriers to drug bioavailability.
XenoGesis Limited began trading from its BioCity Nottingham base in early November 2011 and is providing laboratory-based drug analysis services and consultancy to major global pharmaceutical clients. The company employs three senior scientists, Dr Manfred Ismair, Dawn Parkins and Jim Shelton who worked with Dr Weaver in AstraZeneca.
Further company growth is anticipated as the team responds to new opportunities from the kind of international alliances described in Dr Weaver’s SMi Conference presentation.
ENDS
Photo: Richard Weaver, MD XenoGesis
Media contact:
Louise Third, Integra Communications
T: 0115 912 4350 / 07773 288342 / louise@integracommunications.co.uk
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About XenoGesis Limited
XenoGesis Limited, a contract research organization (CRO), specialises in expert DMPK/ADME laboratory services and interpretation and Drug Discovery consultancy. The XenoGesis team has significant experience and track record of delivering candidate drugs to man from their careers at AstraZeneca R&D Charnwood. XenoGesis supports the Drug Discovery activities of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical companies and academic units.
Visit www.xenogesis.com for more information
Richard Weaver, XenoGesis, Founder/Managing Director, +44 (0)115 837 0626, richard.weaver@xenogesis.com