24th Edition – May 2013

EUPATI conference shows the way for effective patient involvement in medicines R&D

EUPATI, the European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation, brought together 183 participants from 28 countries at its first conference in Rome, Italy on 19 April 2013. IMI’s EUPATI project aims at providing patients with training and education opportunities to enable them to play a role in the medicines R&D process. The conference unveiled EUPATI’s ongoing plans for three areas of training and education: a certificate level course that by 2017 will produce 100 patient experts drawn from across Europe; more generic online education for 10 000 patient representatives; and an Internet library providing information to anyone with an interest in medicines R&D. Attendees heard that the broad outlines of the content of courses and material have been established, but finding the right way of teaching them will prove more of a challenge – as will be selecting 100 people from across Europe for the certificate level course. Even translation can be challenging; for example, some languages do not have a term for ‘randomisation’. Overall, the tone of the meeting was positive, with many speakers noting that there is now a real window of opportunity for effective patient involvement in R&D.

   •   More information on the conference, including presentations and photos, can be found online

Open PHACTS apps get developer community buzzing 

Experts from across Europe and beyond gathered in London at the end of April for the public release of the Open PHACTS application programming interface (API) during the project’s Community Workshop. The API allows researchers to access and query the vast amounts of data compiled by the Open PHACTS project, creating their own, customised apps to do so if needed. The workshop featured demonstrations of two apps based on the API. PharmaTrek provides researchers with an intuitive tool to explore the reams of target-protein interaction data that are publicly available. Meanwhile, the ChemBioNavigator app allows users to rapidly and easily compare the physicochemical properties of a molecule set. The API generated high levels of interest, and one attendee even incorporated use of the Open PHACTS API into an existing app during the workshop, proving that it is both easy to access and intuitive to use. The workshop also discussed safeguarding the sustainability of the Open PHACTS platform by setting up the not-for-profit Open PHACTS Foundation.
   •   The API is available online
   •   You will find the presentations and a workshop report here

IMI’s SAFE-T project enters formal collaboration with C-Path safety project

IMI’s SAFE-T project and the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium (PSTC) managed by the Critical Path Institute (C-Path) have formalised their collaboration through a legal agreement which will enable them to share research and regulatory strategies.
Both PSTC and SAFE-T are working on the development of new biomarkers to improve our ability to predict, diagnose, and monitor drug-induced injury to the liver, kidney, and vascular system. SAFE-T and PSTC have already been collaborating informally for some time. Increased collaboration between the two research consortia will be mutually beneficial and improve results for both projects. In particular, this agreement defines the framework for enhanced collaboration and exchange of information.
Benefits resulting from the collaboration between SAFE-T and PSTC will include reducing the cost of research while boosting efficiency; maximising the strengths of both projects; increasing communication with regulatory bodies and the projects’ scientific influence; the creation of a dataset with wide dissemination possibilities, and higher chances of the application of safer biomarkers.
   •   Read the press release
   •   Find out more about IMI’s SAFE-T project

Drug Discovery Today features EMTRAIN’s on-course® portal

The on-course® portal developed by IMI’s EMTRAIN project is the subject of an article in the April issue of Drug Discovery Today. Currently providing detailed information on 4 598 (and counting) biomedical courses, on-course® is the most comprehensive postgraduate course portal in Europe.
The portal lists all master’s degrees, continued professional development (CPD) and PhD courses in Europe. In addition, on-course® hosts advanced search options designed by the pharmaceutical industry, academia and regulatory bodies allowing the course seeker to find courses that are most relevant for them.
The April 2013 issue of Drug Discovery Today depicts the key role that on-course® plays for the enhancement of life-long learning as an EU objective to increase competitiveness, employability and prosperity. on-course® responds to Europe’s need to enhance life-long training and is a major tool in helping the EU reach this strategic objective for the biomedical sector. The portal is intended to become the reference platform for education and training in biomedical sciences, and will help ensure that the biomedical education and training landscape is geared towards keeping Europe at the forefront of research.
   •   EMTRAIN is an IMI project that will establish a sustainable, pan-European platform for education and training (E&T) covering the whole life-cycle of medicines research, from basic science through clinical development to pharmacovigilance.
   •   Read the article published by Drug Discovery Today
   •   Discover on-course®

DDMoRe publishes white paper in Nature’s Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology

Some outcomes from the education and training team are highlighted in a white paperpublished recently in the Nature journal CPT: Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology.
DDMoRe’s focus is on Modelling and Simulation (M&S), a technology providing the quantitative basis for informed decision-making across all stages of drug development. This model-based drug development is acknowledged as a vital approach in understanding drug-related benefits and risks.
The white paper presents a survey developed by DDMoRe which targeted stakeholders who are either directly or indirectly involved in Drug Disease Modelling and Simulation (DDM&S) in academia, industry, or the therapeutic usage of medicines. The survey provides insights into the current impact, benefits, weaknesses, and potential hurdles as perceived by the different stakeholders and identifies requirements for effective decision-making and knowledge integration management. The insights gained from the survey results will be used as the basis for developing a framework of competencies, and will contribute towards future educational and training efforts in pharmacometrics and systems pharmacology and DDM&S.
The IMI-funded DDMoRe consortium came together to overcome the lack of common tools, languages and ontologies for M&S, as well as the limited access to stored information which created significant gaps in the use of knowledge within drug development. The consortium builds and maintains a universally applicable, open source, model-based framework, intended as the gold standard for future collaborative drug and disease M&S. More general information on DDMoRe can be found in another article in the same issue of the journal.
   •   Read DDMoRe’s white paper 
   •   Learn more about DDMoRe