Abstract:

Biotechnology has revolutionized drug discovery in the nearly four decades since its founding. However the premise of discovery-driven research and development in the biotech industry remains fundamentally challenging, due in part to the high costs of research and clinical development, the inherent difficulty in making meaningful medical advances against seemingly intractable diseases, and the uncertain nature of funding during the long road to commercial success. Given these present-day realities, and despite the fact that small biotech companies continue to develop, it is legitimate to question whether this is an efficient model for discovery-based research and development.

The challenges of drug discovery and development in a relatively small biotech setting have been addressed first-hand at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals since its founding in 2004. With a commitment to building a pipeline of novel therapeutics discovered internally, OncoMed is focused on developing therapeutics that target cancer stem cells, a subset of tumor cells that seed the growth of cancers and underlie cancer's ability to metastasize. This approach has yielded five first-in-class drugs that target previously intractable key stem cell pathways in cancer being currently evaluated in the clinic. The story of this R&D approach provides lessons in the challenges, but also some of the unique strengths, that a nimble biotech research environment can bring to the quest for new therapeutics.

Biography:

Dr. Gurney is Senior Vice President of Molecular and Cellular Biology and a founding scientist at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics that target cancer stem cells. At OncoMed his team has discovered and entered into clinical testing five first-in-class therapeutic agents targeting several key stem cell pathways including Notch and Wnt. Prior to OncoMed, Dr. Gurney worked at Genentech where his research led to the discovery of several growth factors and cytokines.

Austin earned his Ph.D. at Case Western Reserve University studying hormonal control of gene regulation. He is an inventor on over six hundred issued US patents.