Quantitative Systems Modeling in the Pharmaceutical Industry
Clay Thompson
Senior Scientist, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
Date and time:
Friday, April 18, 2014 - 3:00pm
Location:
ECCR 265
Abstract:
Of the proposed targets for new drugs (across all disease indications) which enter Phase I clinical trials, only 1 in 10 will receive final approval by the FDA. Of the failures, a plurality fail for reasons related to efficacy. This pattern results in significant research and development costs and a shortage of available drugs – particularly in areas associated with metabolic health, where the incidence of disease in the Western world is rising in an aging population. In the past decade, pharmaceutical research has placed an increasing emphasis on quantitative systems modeling – the development of mechanistic mathematical models across physiological scales – as a tool to integrate biological knowledge, improve the scientific understanding of disease mechanisms and treatments, and reduce rates of failure late in the drug development pipeline. In this talk, an overview of the role of mathematical modeling in drug discovery and development is provided and supported with examples from the author’s work. The talk will be accessible to a diverse audience, including graduate students and undergraduates in the mathematical sciences with an interest in mathematical modeling and biological applications.