REDWOOD CITY, CA and NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - August 21, 2012) - BioCentury Publications, Inc., the internationally respected source of biopharma business intelligence, and Nature Publishing Group (NPG), a leading publisher of high impact scientific and medical information, today announced the inaugural SciBX Summit on Innovation in Drug Discovery & Development.
This groundbreaking forum -- a unique “Think Tank” held in conjunction with EBD Group’s BioPharma America™ meeting in Boston on September 21, 2012 -- will bring together key opinion leaders from academia, biotech, pharma and the investment community to build a roadmap for macrocycles and constrained peptides, which promise to reach therapeutic targets that have been inaccessible to existing drugs and biologics.
NPG and BioCentury, the co-publishers of SciBX: Science-Business eXchange, are convening a SciBX Think Tank of global leaders in the field: Bruce Booth, Partner at Atlas Venture; Spiros Liras, Head of Medicinal Chemistry in Cardiovascular, Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases at Pfizer Inc. (PFE); Barry Morgan, Vice President of Molecular Discovery Research at GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK); Patrick Reid, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Head of Research & Development at PeptiDream Inc.; Tomi Sawyer, Chief Scientific Officer, SVP Drug Discovery & Innovative Technologies at Aileron Therapeutics Inc.; and Gregory Verdine of Harvard Medical School and Third Rock Ventures.
The SciBX Think Tank will convene before the Summit to identify the essential next steps for translating these promising compounds into medicines for patients. The panel’s final strategy recommendations will be presented to the Summit, along with presentations on the landscape, challenges and opportunities for this important technology.
The Summit findings will be published in a future edition of SciBX: Science Business eXchange. This journal, also the first of its kind, was created in 2008 to marry the scientific acumen of Nature Publishing Group with the business intelligence of BioCentury.
“The vision for SciBX is to identify the most commercially promising science and assess the next steps required to develop this new technology,” said BioCentury Chairman Karen Bernstein, Ph.D. “The SciBX Summit Series advances this vision. It is the first forum to bring key life science stakeholders together with the goal of producing a lasting document identifying the work that must be done to fulfill the promise offered by dynamic and emerging fields of drug development.”
“The aim of these summits is to enlist the energy of everyone who wants to create successful innovation in the life sciences,” said Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg, Ph.D., Managing Editor and Associate Publisher of SciBX. “The focus of this first SciBX Summit -- macrocycles and constrained peptides -- is a perfect example of such a sweet spot in innovation where we expect the frank and in-depth discussion within the Think Tank, and at the event itself, will lead to the formulation of a roadmap for true value creation.”
“The innovative approach of the SciBX Summit is reflected by its Gold Sponsors -- Aileron Therapeutics Inc.; Amgen Inc. (AMGN); BioDuro/PPD Inc.; Ipsen Group (IPN), PeptiDream Inc., Sofinnova Ventures and Takeda Pharmaceuticals International, Inc.,” said NPG Publishing Director Peter Collins. “We appreciate their generous support for this inaugural event and such has been the response from the community that we are already beginning to plan a larger SciBX Innovation Summit for 2013, and annually thereafter.”
About Macrocycles & Small Peptides
Molecules in the 500-5,000 Da size have burst onto the drug discovery stage as a way to bridge the gap between small molecules and biologics. The hope is that these molecular entities will combine the pharmacological properties of small molecules with the specificity of biologics to address intracellular protein-protein interactions that have previously been considered undruggable.
The commercial landscape has been heating up, with a number of startups receiving substantial funding, and several biopharmas partnering with startups or initiating their own discovery programs in the space.
How to Attend the SciBX Summit
The SciBX Summit will take place starting at 9 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, at the Boston Westin Waterfront Hotel in conjunction with BioPharm America. The Summit is open to all registered participants at BioPharm America was well as attendees who register at the SciBX Summit website, http://www.nature.com/natureconferences/sidds/registration.html.
Now in its 5th year, EBD Group’s BioPharm America partnering meeting will convene at the Boston Westin Waterfront from Sept. 19-21. For more information, visit: www.ebdgroup.com/bpa/index.php.
About BioCentury
Now in its 20th year, BioCentury Publications, Inc. provides essential biopharma industry intelligence to a global audience of biotech and pharmaceutical executives, investors, regulators and public policy makers, and the scientific community. This audience has benefited from BioCentury’s deep knowledge, data-driven analysis, independent perspective and trustworthy content available through the company’s publications, data products and collaborative industry conferences in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
BioCentury’s titles include the flagship BioCentury®, the Bernstein Report on BioBusiness; its SciBX: Science-Business eXchange™ translational science partnership with Nature Publishing Group; and its BioCentury Extra™ online daily newspaper. These timely journals are backed by BCIQ: BioCentury Online Intelligence™, an online business intelligence resource. BioCentury also produces its BioCentury This Week biotech public affairs television program in partnership with the Gannett-owned WUSA9 CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C. The program is aired in Washington each Sunday as part of the WUSA9 “Sunday Morning Power Block,” and distributed globally online at www.biocenturytv.com.
For more information, visit www.biocentury.com and www.biocenturytv.com.
About Nature Publishing Group (NPG)
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a publisher of high impact scientific and medical information in print and online. NPG publishes journals, online databases and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine.
Focusing on the needs of scientists, Nature (founded in 1869) is the leading weekly, international scientific journal. In addition, for this audience, NPG publishes a range of Nature research journals and Nature Reviews journals, plus a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. Online, nature.com provides over 6 million visitors per month with access to NPG publications and online databases and services, including news and comment from Nature, Naturejobs plus access to Nature Network and Nature Education’s Scitable.com.
The business of science is an increasing focus of NPG via collaborations with BioCentury (SciBX), Innocentive (Open Innovation Pavilion), and Relay Technology Management (BD Live!) and the development of products for industry executives and investors (SciCafe, Future Leaders, BioPharma Dealmakers).
Throughout all its businesses NPG is dedicated to serving the scientific and medical communities and the wider scientifically interested general public. Part of Macmillan Publishers Limited, NPG is a global company with principal offices in London, New York and Tokyo, and offices in cities worldwide including Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Cairo, Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Melbourne, Osaka, Seoul, Barcelona, Madrid, Basingstoke, Heidelberg, Munich and Paris. For more information, please go to www.nature.com.
