Avid Bioservices Inc (CDMO)

[biopharm]

Roche: The ultimate insider view

Medical imaging plays an increasingly important role in the development of new drugs

And how does imaging fit into research and development at Roche? Three years ago, Roche formed an Imaging Sciences group within the TRS organization (led by Anna-Lena Nordström) in recognition that more and more pRED projects are using imaging technology to improve the understanding of disease biology and to aid in drug development.

Since that time, part of the original imaging group has been integrated into Oncology Discovery & Translational Area (DTA) and is now named Oncology Translational Imaging (OTI).

Team members include:

Abi Keelara,

Tapan Nayak,

Jean Tessier and

Gudrun Zahlmann.

The group’s expertise helps pRED colleagues answer important questions like: Does the drug reach the tumor? Is the drug causing pharmacodynamics changes in a patient’s tumor? Is the drug causing the tumor to change shape or size? In some cases, imaging can help with decisions regarding which dose should be used.

“In the Oncology DTA, non-invasive imaging tools are used alongside with tissue-based diagnostics to gain a more complete view of disease and response to therapies. This helps to improve decision making,” explains David Geho, who heads the OTI group.

Among the imaging modalities used in pRED projects are MRI, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and CT scans. These can be used in global, multicenter studies and have contributed to decision making across multiple oncology programs. The OTI team is also exploring the use of advanced image analysis tools to assess changes in three-dimensional (3-D) tumor volumes as a means to more sensitively detect treatment effects on tumors.

In addition to the in-house experts on the Imaging Sciences team, Roche benefits from academic alliances such as the Dutch Imaging Hub (DIH). The hub connects pRED with three world-renowned institutes for advanced imaging: Free University Medical Center in Amsterdam, University Medical Center Groningen, and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center. Eight Roche postdocs and PhDs are working on numerous studies in oncology as part of the DIH collaboration.

Both OTI and the experts at the DIH are keenly interested if radiolabeled therapeutic antibodies (often called “radiotracers”) can be used in drug development. PET scanning with these tracers has been incorporated into several oncology programs to assess the drug’s tumor-targeting characteristics and to show how a new drug is distributed within the patient’s body.

“We are eager to work with pRED development teams on the implementation of molecular imaging tools that will enable us to make better drug development decisions,” David says.

http://www.roche.com/media/roche_stories/roche-stories-2013-10-03.htm

Merck was able to capture one of the Roche OTI team that used PS Targeting ...for imaging and Merck vs Roche it seems buy how much aligned is Eli Lilly...etc

Roche normally just picks up whom they want via some plan of execution though Interpace Diagnostics picked up Cancer Genetics Inc CGIX (that picked up VivoPharm LLC ) and Roche did not want CGI to back out of the Sept 18 2018 NovellusDx merger as CGI backed out on Dec 17 2018 and decided to move ahead with being backed by Interpace Diagnostics and ultimately....Ampersand : )

The same Ampersand that REQUIRES Biomarkers etc yet two of their BODs at Avid CDMO FAIL to even mention things publicly and on website

Abi Keelara, - stayed with Roche

Tapan Nayak, - poached to Merck

Jean Tessier - stayed with Roche

Gudrun Zahlmann - stayed with Roche

Let's go Roche....are you sleeping with the enemy or lost your way?

Let's go Ampersand ...do you not realize ALL will surface unless you make things right with PS Targeting ...so we will see