Three leading scientists gather to discuss Improved Strategies for Pre-clinical Cardiac Testing

Jun 22 2010

Three leading scientists in the field of cardiac safety in pre-clinical drug development are gathering to discuss Improved Strategies for Pre-clinical Cardiac Testing in a free webinar on June 23 at 11:00 a.m. EDT, sponsored by the Drug Safety Council (DSEC).

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The panel features Arthur "Buzz" Brown, M.D., Ph.D., founder, president and CEO of ChanTest www.chantest.com, David J. Gallacher, BSc., Ph.D. senior director, Center of Excellence for Cardiovascular Safety Research, Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, a division of Janssen Pharmaceutica, Belgium www.jnjpharmarnd.com, and Gary Gintant, senior group leader, Department of Integrative Pharmacology, Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abbott Laboratories www.abbott.com.

The discussion will include strategies for enhancing predictivity; applying and interpreting pharmacologically relevant data sets; using new pre-clinical assays for cardiotoxicity assessment; and avoiding current discordances between S7B-recommended assays (hERG, in vivo QT) and Phase I observations by adopting more relevant in vitro models.

Dr. Brown is an entrepreneur and recognized expert in the field of molecular physiology and pharmacology of ion channels and their clinical relevance for cardiac drug safety. His lab was the first to identify the hERG potassium channel as the unintended target for the cardiotoxic effects of Seldane and Propulsid, both of which were subsequently withdrawn from the market.

Dr. Gallacher started his career in stroke research at Pfizer Central Research, UK, then spent four years at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, University of London in the field of central control of the cardiovascular system. In 1996, he joined a new company, Quintiles Preclinical in Edinburgh, where he started, developed and managed the in vivo cardiovascular safety research group to become the biggest cardiovascular pharmacology group in the CRO world. He joined Johnson & Johnson in 2003.

Dr. Gary Gintant is Senior Group Leader in the Dept. of Integrative Pharmacology, Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abbott Laboratories, where he heads the Early Preclinical Studies Group. He is actively involved in various cardiac risk assessment / QT interval committees (including the ILSI/HESI Cardiovascular Risk Assessment Committee and Abbott QT Working Group) and has served on various NIH study sections and as advisor to the National Institutes for Drug Abuse regarding cardiac toxicity.