San Carlos, California (PRWEB) November 13, 2014

Curiox Biosystems hosted its first Primary Immune Cell Assay Development and Screening Workshop on October 22, 2014. This pre-conference meeting was held in conjunction with the Academic Drug Discovery Consortium and the NIH aDREAM conference (Development of Robust Experimental Assay Methods) in Cambridge, MA.

Speakers and panel members included some of the brightest minds in the industry heading teams focused on several aspects of drug discovery including leads discovery and optimization, clinical biomarker research, personalized medicine, pharmacology and cellular pharmacology, and immuno-oncology at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, EMD Serono, Genentech, and Merck Research Laboratories. Each speaker shared the challenges they face and are resolving on a variety of topics from developing robust assays for immunology and immuno-oncology applications, to the type of cells available for these assays, to finding the right balance between ideal assays and those that are actually doable and practical. The physiological relevance of primary cells compared to cell lines was also addressed as well as the best tools to use for monitoring clinical and pre-clinical in vivo response to therapies. Presenters also touched on the potential of phenotypic screening using these tools and the challenges of phenotypic screening in general.

“While at Curiox, I’ve been privileged to meet many top-notch scientists studying immune responses and working with primary immune cells over the years, but found they all confronted similar scientific challenges. They needed a forum to talk to and exchange ideas with other researchers facing the same issues, learn what others had done to overcome them, and ultimately find better solutions for developing more effective therapeutics,” commented Namyong Kim, CEO, Curiox Biosystems. “The workshop’s open atmosphere allowed audience members to ask questions freely and express their own thoughts during every presentation, which made it uniquely engaging.”

In spite of inclement weather, the meeting was well-attended with 70 participants. “The workshop was timely and highly informative. It was great to meet high-quality scientists from both industry and academia discussing state-of-the-art science”, commented Liang Schweizer, Director in Leads Discovery and Optimization, Bristol-Myers Squibb, an invited speaker. As it was so well received by attendees, Curiox plans to make the meeting an annual event and expand the program in 2015.

About Curiox Biosystems

Curiox Biosystems brings brilliantly simple solutions to the Life Sciences that accelerate the progress of basic research, drug discovery and diagnostics through the miniaturization and automation of bioassays. Our expertise in surface chemistry and engineering assists the biomedical research community in making a bigger global impact in the fight against disease. For more information visit http://www.curiox.com.







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