title: Highlights from SelectBio 2015: Academic Drug Discovery Conference, Cambridge, UK, 19-20 May 2015.
abstract: The SelectBio 2015: Academic Drug Discovery Conference was held in Cambridge, UK, on 19-20 May 2015. Building on the success of academic drug discovery events in the USA, this conference aimed to showcase the exciting new research emerging from academic drug discovery and to help bridge the gap between basic research and commercial application. At the event the authors heard from a number of speakers on a broad array of topics, from partnering models for academia and industry to novel drug discovery approaches across various therapeutic areas, with a few talks, such as those by Susanne Muller-Knapp (Structure Genomics Consortium, Oxford University, Oxford, UK) and Julian Blagg (Institute of Cancer Research, UK), covering both remits, by highlighting a number of such partnerships and then delving into some case studies. The conference concluded with a heated debate on whether phenotypic discovery should be favored over targeted discovery in academia and pharma, in a panel discussion chaired by Roland Wolkowicz (San Diego State University, USA).
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, BN19QJ, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.affiliation: Managing Commissioning Editor, Future Science Group, Unitec House, 2 Albert Place, London, N3 1QB, UK.
authors.forename: Hannah
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Coaker
mesh_terms: D055808:Drug Discovery; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays; D060066:Protein Interaction Maps; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships; D012106:Research; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D054852:Small Molecule Libraries
keywords: cancer; chemical libraries; chemical probes; fragment-based drug discovery; high-throughput screening; protein–protein interactions