Building Bridges from Pre-Clinical to Clinical Studies: Interview with: Michael Burnet, Chief Executive Officer, Synovo, a sponsor company at the marcus evans Discovery Summit 2013, on improving drug development processes.

1. Building Bridges from Pre-Clinical to Clinical Studies
What are the key developments in high in small companies, where they
drug discovery? hav e a mo re s i m p l e cor por a t e
environment to navigate.
We now understand what genetic
variations exist in the population and Drug discovery scientists should have
are in a position to produce some of this in mind when allocating their capital
that variation in cell-based systems. The and looking for the right people to work
goal is to work with samples that are with.
truly representative of patients.
How could the cost of drug
development be reduced?
Interview with: M i c h a e l Burnet, The costs are twofold. First, the sheer
Chief Executive Officer, Synovo size of the population required to see
The most powerful drug discovery
the economic benefit that the
reimbursement authorities are
interested in.
There is
process is in vivo pharmacology, so the
challenge becomes to transit to these
studies as soon as it is feasible,
The second main cost then is that these
rather blind trials, which are not very
simply no
recommends Michael Burnet, Chief
Executive Officer, Synovo.
selective in terms of who is recruited,
are bigger than they really need to be
and are driven by conflicting factors.
way to
From a sponsor company at the marcus
evans Discovery Summit 2013, in
Monte Carlo, Monaco, 21 - 22 March,
The obvious and clear development is
the use of molecular biology to identify
appropriate patients, and exploratory or
encompass
Burnet exchanges ideas for more
successful drug development.
experimental medicine to learn who the
patients are. all of the
How can bridges be built from pre-
clinical to clinical studies, to
improve the success probability of a
The evolution we expect in intelligent
trial design will be to have phases of
learning about the drug in which one
variations
compound?
The key change at the moment is that
has more freedom to conduct
experimental medicine, and then more
intelligent trials with more powerful
they need to
there is a renewed interest in studying
other species in the pre-clinical area and
using the genetic and genomic tools
diagnoses implicated in that.
Any final thoughts?
know about
that we have to learn about the efficacy
of drugs, and place them in the context
of human samples. The key problem is
Our experience working with different
countries is that the economic
without
selecting drugs that are effective when
they come to patients, and so it is very
important to select and use in vivo
differences are becoming less important
while the human element more. This
means that knowledge and productivity
working with
models carefully.
The most powerful drug discovery
have become critical, as the goal of
modern pharmaceutical research is to
develop better products faster.
in vivo
process is in vivo pharmacology. While
scientists should work with in-vitro This requires smarter people from
systems, molecular models and various backgrounds working at their
simplified assays, there is simply no most productive. The idea is to unite
way to encompass all of the variations smart people and give them a flexible
they need to know about without working environment where they have
working with in vivo models. the freedom to be clever. They can fly

2. The Pharma Network – marcus About the Discovery Summit 2013
evans Summits group delivers
peer-to-peer information on This unique forum will take place at Le Méridien Beach Plaza, Monte Carlo, Monaco,
strategic matters, professional 21 - 22 March, 2013. Offering much more than any conference, exhibition or trade
trends and breakthrough show, this exclusive meeting will bring together esteemed industry thought leaders
innovations. and solution providers to a highly focused and interactive networking event. The
Summit includes presentations and interactive forums on building bridges from pre-
clinical to clinical studies and designing open innovation platforms.
www.discovery-summit.com
Please note that the Summit is a
closed business event and the Contact
number of participants strictly
limited. Sarin Kouyoumdjian-Gurunlian, Press Manager, marcus evans, Summits
Division
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About Synovo
Synovo is a drug discovery services company. It was founded in 2003 and has 30 employees covering synthetic chemistry,
analytics and pharmacology. We provide specialised pre-clinical services to Pharma and Biotech clients focusing on drug
optimisation. Our business focus is to provide our clients with an integrated view of drug performance in vivo. We help our clients
by providing fast turn-around on studies.
Synovo’s main therapeutic areas are Inflammation, Metabolism/diabetes, Skeleto-Muscular and Pain. Within inflammation, we also
cover cancer microenvironment and aspects of ophthalmology, respiratory and gastroenterology.
www.synovo.com
About marcus evans Summits
marcus evans Summits are high level business forums for the world’s leading decision-makers to meet, learn and discuss
strategies and solutions. Held at exclusive locations around the world, these events provide attendees with a unique opportunity to
individually tailor their schedules of keynote presentations, think tanks, seminars and one-to-one business meetings.
For more information, please visit: www.marcusevans.com
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To view the web version of this interview, please click here: www.discovery-summit.com/MichaelBurnet