Joseph A. Cerro

R&D IT Best Practices for Growing Small/Mid-Sized Biopharmas

I'll be moderating a roundtable discussion next month on the topic of R&D I.T. Best Practices for Growing Small/Mid-Sized Biopharmas. The event is being coordinated by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and it will be held at Microsoft's New England Research & Development Center from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM on Wednesday, April 14, 2010.

If you are interested in being a panelist, or if there is someone whom you'd like to see as a panelist, please send me a note via email or via twitter direct message.

You can register to attend the event at http://bit.ly/9gUR4p.

Panelists include:

• David Osterman, Director of Research Informatics, Biorelix, Inc.
• Tom Plasterer, Adjunct Professor, Northeastern University
• Keith Robison, Lead Senior Scientist, Infinity Pharmaceuticals
• Jeff Warhaft, Associate Director, R&D IT Solutions Delivery, Biogen Idec
• Barry Wythoff, Scientist & IT Project Manager, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• David Yee, Head of Knowledge & Information Systems, Archemix Corporation

Here is the preliminary abstract:

R&D IT Best Practices for Growing Small/Mid-Sized Biopharmas

As smaller biopharma companies grow and mature into larger organizations, they need to transition from relatively ad hoc, spreadsheet heavy, lightly supported R&D IT environments to more comprehensive, scalable platforms and support models. This presents substantial challenges to scientists, managers, and IT professionals, ranging from prioritization of new features and functions, creation of new workflows, budget and staffing issues, in-house platforms versus COTS (commercial-off-the-shelf) platforms, and getting organizational support for necessary changes. Our expert panel will discuss these issues and more in this Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council Life Science Cluster roundtable discussion.

A Call to Arms - Data Standards in Collaborative Research

I'll be moderating a presentation and panel discussion next month in Waltham, MA as part of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council's Life Sciences lecture series on "Technology And Life Sciences Collaboration."

Dr. Martin Leach, Head of Research and Biomarker IT at Merck Research Laboratories will present A Call to Arms - Data Standards in Collaborative Research. I've known Martin since my days at Bayer, when he was my counterpart at Curagen. He is an articulate and outspoken advocate for the collaborative benefits that are possible when data standards can be adopted and applied across industry and the academy. I anticipate that he will make a stirring call for biopharma groups working in areas like preclinical research and translational medicine to adopt some of the data standardization approaches that have been so successful on the clinic, such as CDISC, etc.

Immediately following Martin's presentation, we'll convene a panel to discuss what can and is being done toward the development and adoption of research data standards and asking 'if not, why not.' The panelists will include Dr. Chris Bouton, CEO of Entagen, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Bioinformatics at Boston University and former Head of Integrative Biology at Pfizer, Dr. Jens Hoefkens, Managing Director of GeneData USA, Michele Pontinen, MBA, Life Sciences R&D Practice Leader at CapGemini, and Matthew Trunnell, Manager of Research Computing at the Broad Institute.

For up to date information about the presentation and panel discussion, or to register to attend, please visit http://lifesciences081202.eventbrite.com/.

2009 Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference

During the last five or six years, I've given a series of talks about the importance of embracing serendipity in industrial R&D, rather than applying too much "six sigma" style engineering to research processes. A different engineering emphasis is required, particularly in early research, where uncertainty is greatest, and where rapid adaptation, rather than a priori prediction, seems more feasible. I've enjoyed developing that basic idea into a reasonable set of process guidelines and best practices that are now recognizably deployed in the real world.

More recently, improvements in consumer technology and software interfaces have made it easier than ever to collect diverse information and, better yet, to respond to unexpected signals in the data which might impact product development or even human health (positively and negatively). This sets the stage for the next phase of embracing serendipity.

The folks at Cambridge Healthtech Institute were kind enough to invite me to give an "enabling serendipity" update at their Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference in San Francisco in February. Perfect timing! This will be a great opportunity to highlight the truly innovative work that some of my clients have been undertaking in the areas of consumer-technology enabled pharma R&D, theranostic development, and care management, all of which incorporate an openness to serendipity. Here is my preliminary abstract:

Democratized Serendipity: Leveraging Consumer-Oriented Technologies into Better R&D and Better Health Care Decisions.
Joseph A. Cerro, President, The Schooner Group, LLC

The combination of (1) ubiquitous consumer electronic devices, (2) flexible, inexpensive manufacturing capabilities, (3) easy to use "Web 2.0" interfaces, and (4) an increasing willingness of individuals to manage aspects of their own health care creates an unprecedented opportunity to collect patient data in the field in near real time. Analyzing such data has the potential to transform the way pharmaceutical companies manage clinical development programs and may create new opportunities for theranostic development, biomarker validation, and, most importantly, individualized care management. Several such projects will be discussed in this session.

If you have any suggestions for the talk, or if there is a particular issue that you'd like me to cover, just send me a note via email or Twitter. I'll also be moderating a session or two in the conference's R&D informatics track. If you'll be at the conference, I hope to see you there!

Updated - Download Presentation: (1.8 MB Zipped PDF file).

Managing Drug Discovery

As succinct and accurate of a description of drug discovery and development as I've come across in a while, written by my fellow Wonder Drug Factory alum, Derek Lowe: "Lurching Around for Fun and Profit."

An e-Health Acknowledgment

I was pleasantly surprised to see my name on an acknowledgment slide in Vertex Pharmaceuticals CEO Joshua Boger's keynote presentation at the Bio-IT World conference (see streaming video of his keynote). I've been working with the Vertex people and a few other consultants to help them develop their truly innovative approach to e-Health. Some companies aren't very eager to acknowledge their own employees in public (never mind their consultants), but Vertex seems to take the high road. Thanks Josh!

Update: A summary of Josh Boger's keynote is available in the June 2008 issue of Bio-IT World magazine.

Bayer Research Center Alumni Websites Launched

I am writing this as a newly minted alumnus of Bayer's West Haven Research Center (aka, the "BRC"). As you may have heard, almost all of Bayer's researchers in West Haven spent their last day with the company on January 31st, 2007, with a small crew remaining for a little while longer to complete the shutdown of the facilities and the transfer of equipment and materials to Bayer AG in Germany.

While the shutdown is a sad event for the hundreds of individuals who were affected, it has been gratifying to watch the alumni community come together and support each other by sharing job leads, references, and also simply by sharing encouragement. We've launched some online resources to help everyone keep in touch and to keep supporting each other now that we are starting to disperse.

First, we've set up a private, members-only Yahoo! Discussion Group and E-Mail List for West Haven BRC alums. Now approaching three hundred members, the Yahoo group is a great way to stay up to date with contact info, alumni news, networking, and industry tips. Keep in mind, however, that the group is only open to individuals who were affiliated with Bayer Research, with a particular emphasis on people who worked in West Haven or those who worked elsewhere but collaborated closely with West Haven staff. More details are available at the Yahoo site. Our colleagues at Bayer/Berlex's Richmond, CA facility also were affected by Bayer's restructuring, and they have created a similar "Beyond Berlex" Yahoo group.

Next, we've launched a public website for alumni of the Bayer Research Community at BRCalums.org. This site will provide public information about alumni events, photos from the "BRC alumni archives," job search tools, and more. If you are trying to reconnect with West Haven or Richmond alums, the brcalums.org site is a good place to start. If you would like to contribute articles, photos, or other information to the site, please contact the site moderators at brc_alums at yahoo.com.

Last, but not least, we've created the "Bayer/Berlex Research Community Alumni" group on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a very useful social networking tool, and it is particularly handy for keeping track of people if they move to new companies, etc.

Update: April 2007 - Chemical & Engineering News mentioned the BRC websites in a article about recent industry dislocation. For more info, please see the article "Pharmaceutical Diaspora" at BRCalums.org.