To mark its 10th anniversary, Drug Discovery & Development magazine invited industry vendors to reflect on the history and made predictions about future of the industry. Featured here are verbatim comments from this company.

Millipore Corporation

Headquarters 
Billerica, Mass.

Years in Drug Research 
10 Years

Spokesperson
Dennis Harris, Chief Scientific Officer

Web site 

About the company
Millipore works closely with its customers worldwide to advance our understanding of human biology and disease. Our products are used for basic research and pharmaceutical discovery/development, and support the generation of novel approaches for disease research and treatment.

The company’s line of business as it was 10 years ago. Changes in life science/drug research that influenced business.
Ten years ago, Millipore provided key filtration-based solutions to researchers and to developers and manufacturers of therapeutic products – from laboratory water systems to filter plates for enzyme assays to large scale filtration systems for the purification of protein products from cell culture. Today, we have become the leading worldwide provider of complete systems for the purification of biopharmaceuticals. In life science research and drug development, as the pace of discovery and understanding of the underlying biology of complex diseases has accelerated, we have become a leader in providing a broad spectrum of products, technologies and services that are derived from our capabilities in protein research and cell biology.

Scientific challenges in the next 10 years.
In the last decade, we have come to understand that genetics and disease are linked in complex ways, and that the selection and outcome of a treatment requires an understanding of the individual’s genetic makeup. In the next 10+ years, as we move away from a “diagnose and treat” paradigm to a “predict and prevent” approach, this link to fundamental and individual biology will become more and more important. An understanding of an individual’s biology at the protein and the cellular level will be needed that will dwarf the complexity of modern genomics. New paradigms and technologies will certainly be required, and new markets will be created – in cell based discovery and targeted, individual cell based therapies; in complex companion and predictive diagnostics; in biological informatics and knowledge; and in many other areas. At Millipore we look forward to Advancing Life Science with our customers, collaborators and partners. The next 10 years, indeed the next century, will be an exciting time for all of us in Life Sciences.

Factor(s) that drove the development of technologies during the last 10 years and greatest area of growths.
For drug discovery and development some important factors have driven the need to develop:

1. a better understanding of biological systems, especially the complex underlying pathways and mechanisms of cellular responses
2. physiologically relevant assays, simplified methods that correlate to the biology of the system
3. analytical methodologies that generate more data from preciously small biological samples
4. scalable manufacturing processes and environmental safety testing for biopharmaceuticals
5. collaborative services that meet the needs for outsourcing of both research and development by Biotech and Pharma companies

We have grown through the development of solutions for these needs – some examples are:

1. functional cell based assays for screening of drug targets
2. a source for stem cells and the associated reagents for their cultur and characterization
3. multiplexed assays for protein biomarkers that provide much higher information content from very small samples of serum/plasma.
4. outsourcing services that encompass target class screening, biomarker analysis and Ligand Binding assays for preclinical and clinical samples.
5. Manufacturing solutions for large scale purification and analytical services for process stream monitoring

Bold Prediction: Where will drug research technology be in 10 years?
In 10 years, the possibility exists to experience a sea of change in how new pharmaceuticals are discovered and developed. Multiplexed cell based systems will be used routinely for high throughput screening. Biomarkers will accompany the development of virtually every new drug. They will be used to assess efficacy and safety/toxicity. More ‘parallel processing’ will occur – cell based systems and invitro assays will be able to provide valuable insight for safety and toxicity that will remove undesirable compounds from the development path at a much earlier stage. Companion diagnostic assays (biomarkers) will follow the drug through the clinic and into patient care.

Cellular based therapies will begin to challenge biopharmaceuticals in several therapeutic areas.