Protein Biomarkers and Drug Discovery: Ready for Prime Time?

摘要

Just about every major pharmaceutical company is interested in biomarker-assisted discovery. Some big pharma firms have robust internal efforts in gear, while others are partnering with academia or one of dozens of biotech firms touting biomarker expertise. While the use of validated biomarkers could be of immense help in determining which compounds should advance to the clinic, there are precious few of them to go around. Biomarker initiatives are gaining momentum as drug safety continues to be a major concern, particularly in the wake of the recent trial of a leukemia drug in Northwick Park Hospital (London, U.K.), which left six healthy young men critically ill. How and why trials were allowed in the first place is currently under investigation But if adequate biomarkers for leukemia and inflammation—the two conditions the drug was supposed to treat—were in existence, this travesty would likely not have happened.