Abstract:

A classic challenge in the biotechnology industry is how to support an early stage research program in a cutting edge field; that is, a program in which the unknowns are many and the technical risks are high, but the potential to develop novel and valuable therapeutics is also great. This challenge is amplified in the current financially constrained environment, potentially threatening innovation in our industry. How does a company identify the right kind of research area to pursue?

An example of one such early stage research area in cancer is tumor metabolism. New research indicates that cancer cells radically and permanently re-wire their metabolic pathways through mutations in key oncogenes, conferring growth and survival advantages. The first scientist to recognize this change in metabolism was Otto Warburg who showed in the 1930s that cancer cells took up more glucose than normal cells and metabolized it differently, through aerobic glycolysis. He hypothesized that this change in metabolism, known as the “Warburg effect”, was the cause of cancer. Over the next several decades, other observations of differences between normal and cancer cell metabolism were made. But how and why do tumor cells change their metabolism? Is the change in metabolism necessary for a cancer cell to be transformed, and if so, how does a permanent change take place? That was not well understood until the recent studies of oncogenes.

This understanding creates opportunities to discover new drugs to treat cancer and select specific populations of cancer patients for treatment. But how do we support such innovation when the investor appetite for risk is low and the investor timelines have shrunk? Answering such important questions is far from simple. Dr. Molineaux will be using Calithera’s current move into this new research area as a concrete way to address these issues which affect large segments of our industry.

Biography:

Dr. Molineaux is a co-founder of Calithera Biosciences and has served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer since the company’s founding in June 2010. Dr. Molineaux was most recently a founder, CSO and CEO of Proteolix, a company that discovered and developed proteasome inhibitors for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease. Prior to joining Proteolix, Dr. Molineaux was Vice President, Biology at Rigel Pharmaceuticals from 2000 to 2003. Before that, she was Vice President, Biology at Praelux, and from 1994 through 1999, Dr. Molineaux served as Vice President of Drug Development at Praecis Pharmaceuticals. From 1989 until 1994 she was a scientist in the Immunology group at Merck, in Rahway, NJ. Dr. Molineaux received a B.S. degree in Biology from Smith College, a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from Johns Hopkins University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.