MDS Pharma Services Hosted Symposium on Kinases and Ion Channels
22 September 2004 - 10:23PM
PR Newswire (US)
MDS Pharma Services Hosted Symposium on Kinases and Ion Channels
MONTREAL, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MDS Pharma Services, a
leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development
solutions, hosted a Scientific Leadership Series symposium on
September 20-21 at the company's Bothell, Washington, facility.
Leading researchers from industry and academic institutions
discussed the challenges and strategies for advancing compounds
through the drug discovery process and presented recent discoveries
about kinases and ion channels. Individuals interested in receiving
a CD-Rom of the following presentations are encouraged to contact .
The ability to modulate kinase and ion channel function holds great
potential for addressing therapeutic needs in the 21st century. The
challenge is to understand complex biological processes mediated by
kinases and ion channels, as well as disease states that result
when dysfunction arises and develop and identify potent and
selective compounds that will safely address patients' therapeutic
needs. Topics and speakers for September 20th, focusing on kinases
in the context of general profiling strategies, included: -
"Complex Profiling Approach to Address Pharmacology Related
Liabilities," Laszlo Urban, Ph.D., Novartis Institutes of
Biomedical Research. - "Preclinical Studies of CHIR258, An Orally
Active Small Molecule RTK Inhibitor," Marion Weismann, Ph.D.,
Chiron. - "Mining the Kinome," Robert Pacifici, Ph.D., Eli Lilly. -
"Characterization of Selective Diarylpyrazole Inhibitors of p38
Kinase as Anti-inflammatory Agents," Robert Compton, Ph.D., Pfizer
Global Research and Development. - "Potentiated Signaling
Proteomics: Kinases, Leukemia and Autoimmunity," Omar Perez, Ph.D.,
Stanford University. - "Phosphoregulation of Biomarkers in Normal
and Disease States," Erik Schaefer, Ph.D., Biosource -
"Pharmacological Evaluation Strategies for Reducing Late Stage
Attrition of Drug Candidates," Mir Hashim, Ph.D., GlaxoSmithKline.
Topics and speakers for September 21st, focusing on ion channels,
included: - "Molecular Pharmacology of Voltage-Gated Sodium and
Calcium Channels," William Catterall, Ph.D., University of
Washington. - "Calcium and Sodium Channels as Targets for Drug
Discovery," Lars Knutsen, Ph.D., Ionix Pharmaceuticals. - "Mapping
Nicotinic Receptor Diversity: Natural Ligands and Unnatural
Animals," Paul Whiteaker, Ph.D., University of Colorado. - "In
Vitro and In Vivo Assays for QT Prolongation and Testing
Strategies," Peter Chiu, Ph.D., MDS Pharma Services Each day of the
symposium wrapped up with a panel discussion moderated by James
Baumgartner, Ph.D., technical director, MDS Pharma Services and
Laurie Taylor, director, custom screening services, MDS Pharma
Services, respectively. In addition, Robert Beland, senior vice
president, Discovery and Preclinical, MDS Pharma Services and
Daniel Menard, Ph.D., vice president, Pharmacology, MDS Pharma
Services also gave remarks. MDS Pharma Services offers a full
spectrum of resources to meet the drug discovery and development
needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With
numerous facilities strategically located around the world, the
company applies advanced scientific and technological expertise to
each stage of the drug discovery and development process - early
stage: lead optimization, pre-IND research, pharmaceutical and
biopharmaceutical development, early clinical research
(bioequivalence, phases I-IIa) and bioanalysis; and late stage:
global clinical development (phases IIb-IV) and central lab. For
more information, visit MDS Pharma Services' Web site at
http://www.mdsps.com/. MDS Pharma Services is part of MDS Inc.
(TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), an international health and life sciences
company. At MDS Inc., our 10,000 highly skilled people provide
services, products and instruments enabling health sciences
organizations to enhance the well being of people around the world.
We focus on helping discover and test new drugs, assisting doctors
to diagnose and treat patients and preventing the spread of
disease. Find out more about MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), at
http://www.mdsintl.com/ or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a
day. DATASOURCE: MDS Pharma Services CONTACT: Kim Peacock, MDS
Pharma Services, 621 Rose Street, Lincoln, Neb., Tel: (402)
476-2811, and visit our Web site at http://www.mdsps.com/
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