CULVER CITY, Calif., May 24, 2016 – The World Molecular Imaging Society (WMIS) welcomes a new interest group ADDMI – “Advancing Drug Development through Molecular Imaging.” The focus of ADDMI-IG will be geared towards how using molecular imaging can help address some of the current drug discovery and development pipeline issues. Through ADDMI-IG WMIS will provide a platform for productive discussions about the implementation of molecular imaging in the many stages of drug development, as well as a platform to address clinical manufacturing issues and Phase 1 clinical trials. Like all WMIS interest groups, ADDMI is open to any WMIS member looking to pursue a common goal and expand the field of molecular imaging.
“By founding this interest group, we hope to bridge the gap between how academia and industry use and implement imaging to help answer both different and complimentary scientific questions that drive decision-making in drug research and development (R&D),” said Shil Patel, Ph.D., Biogen, and WMIS founding Co-Chair, ADDMI-IG. “We will emphasize that fostering early relationships across both internal functions and between institutions will allow real drug discovery problems to be solved in a timely and realistic manner – from manufacturing, IP, operational deployment, standardization and much more.”
Molecular imaging techniques off¬er a unique, essential and non-invasive insight into target expression, pathway activity and drug distribution; revealing spatial and temporal information that can aid in improved drug discovery and development. In an evaluation by Merck between 2006 and 2009 in Phase 2 trials, molecular imaging had a significant impact on 24 go and no go decisions and represented a savings of $272 million.
ADDMI-IG will host a spotlight session during the 2016 World Molecular Imaging Congress in New York City. This session will be held on Thursday, September 8, 2016 from 8 am until 9:30 am. The session is titled, “Use of Imaging Biomarkers in Drug Discovery and Development,” and will feature the following presentations:
Presentation 1: Smarter Drug Discovery Using Imaging Biomarkers
Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D., Biogen
Presentation 2: Tau PET Imaging: A Potential Paradigm Shift in Alzheimer’s
Disease Drug Development
Eric Hostetler, Ph.D., Merck & Co. Inc.
Presentation 3: Providing Radio Tracers for Use in Driving Drug Development Programs in Industrial or Academic Settings
Neil Vasdev, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
The first ever ADDMI-IG session will help show how smart partnerships between pharma, specialized CRO’s, and academic groups leverage these metrics to make data-driven decisions that provide a higher probability of developing the right drug for the right patient through the R&D process, from preclinical to clinical and also through post marketing stages.
“The people that should attend the ADDMI session at WMIC 2016 will be multidisciplinary – it is not a cliché when we say this really is a team sport, and a respectful collaboration between functions will improve probability of success,” said Daniel Bradley, Ph.D., Biogen, founding Co-Chair, ADDMI-IG. “Many of the speakers have learned the hard way – through failures, so this session will open people’s eyes to the details of what can make a program succeed or fail. This session will be a great opportunity for attendees to ask those important questions.”
Join WMIS and ADDMI today to be involved in the formation of this interest group and attend the pioneering session at WMIC in New York. For more information, please visit the WMIS website at www.wmis.org or contact Lauren Whitman at lwhitman@wmis.org.
ABOUT WORLD MOLECULAR IMAGING SOCIETY
The WMIS is dedicated to developing and promoting translational research through multimodality molecular imaging. The education and abstract-driven WMIC is the annual meeting of the WMIS and is held in conjunction with partner societies including the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) and the Federation of Asian Societies for Molecular Imaging (FASMI). WMIC provides a unique setting for scientists and clinicians with very diverse backgrounds to interact, present, and follow cutting-edge advances in the rapidly expanding field of molecular imaging that impacts nearly every biomedical discipline. Industry exhibits at the congress included corporations who have created the latest advances in preclinical and clinical imaging approaches and equipment, providing a complete molecular imaging educational technology showcase. For more information: www.wmis.org