Streamlining Drug Development with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry

We're very excited to be welcoming our next speaker, Melinda Turner, at our April 29th meetup. She'll be speaking on "Streamlining Drug Development with Accelerator Mass Spectrometry."

There will be limited space for this meetup, so be sure to RSVP early, and if your plans change please be sure to update your stuats!

Synopsis:
Drug development statistics show that the number of molecules approved by the FDA is decreasing while the time and costs required to develop a drug continues to rise. In response to this crisis, many alternative strategies and technologies have been suggested to increase success rates of drug approval. One of these technologies is accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), which can be used to de-risk early development programs and increase their value to investors and potential partners. Xceleron is a pioneer in accelerator mass spectrometry, having been the first commercial organization to apply this technology to biomedical research and helping to shape US and European regulatory agencies’ positions on the use of AMS within drug development. This presentation will provide an overview of the traditional early drug development strategy and introduce the AMS technology. We will review a few case studies demonstrating the practical application as well as the financial and scientific benefits of the use of AMS in early drug development.

Outline:

• Overview of drug development
  
• FDA’s critical path initiative
  
• eIND guidance
  
• MIST guidance
  
• AMS technology
  
• Applications of AMS (high-level)
  
• Case studies (focus on financial benefits, de-risking, partnerships)
  

About Melinda Turner:
Melinda Turner works closely with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to provide solutions for early drug development. Throughout her career, Melinda has gained a firm knowledge of the drug development process from medicinal chemistry through early clinical development. Her practical understanding of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics helps to guide potential partners and clients during the critical phases of selecting the appropriate clinical candidate.

After receiving her degree in biochemistry from Villanova University and completing some graduate coursework at the University of Pennsylvania, she began working in the preclinical drug development arena for Absorption Systems, a small contract services company. During her time at Absorption Systems, Melinda gained an understanding of early drug development and the driving factors of candidate selection and preclinical drug development. Melinda moved on to lead the US business development team at Cyprotex, a UK-based drug discovery company, where she developed partnerships with pharma and biotech to shape drug discovery efforts through lead optimization. She is continuing to expand her experience throughout the drug development paradigm while working with Xceleron, where she provides an opportunity for biotech and pharma to streamline late preclinical and early clinical development of drugs.