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23 JULY 2014 LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM Innovative diagnostics and research solutions for discovery, clinic and bioprocess. Learn more at metabolon.com. Achieve better models, candidates & markers with metabolomics. the targeting paradigm, but to increase our biological understanding with even more sophisticated tools and methodolo- gies so we can refine the paradigm." He cites the collective need of targeted drug developers to use and interpret whole genome sequencing for a higher-resolu- tion understanding of the biologics in can- cer. "Understanding and targeting cancer is a struggle that all cancer-drug develop- ers are facing right now, and we recognize we may not be able to build some of our development programs around a highly specific, genetically designed approach." Because scientists' ability to interro- gate tumors is at an "inflection point," Vasconcelles says his unit must also rely on other ways to define appropri- ate patient populations for its medicines. "But because of these incredible successes that we have demonstrated, whatever set of criteria we use — biomarker-driven, a constellation of biomarker and clinical factors, or simply understanding the tar- get sufficiently — I believe we will dupli- cate those clinical successes more often than not. The bar has been raised by past successes, and our job has just become more challenging." Vasconcelles also acknowledges the need to find new strategies against tumors. He likens the current battle with cancer to the historical fight against com- municable diseases, with tumors quickly developing resistance to drugs the way microbes evade antibiotics or antivirals. He is particularly interested in immuno- therapeutic approaches. "My former company, Genzyme, had an early commitment to cancer immunother- apy, so I was steeped in the complex effort at the time. Now we may have the oppor- tunity with the checkpoint inhibitors to see a real transformation in the care of patients, at least with certain cancers. So we are looking at immuno-oncology very carefully." He explains that the company's oncol- ogy R&D; now incorporates three prima- ry areas: protein quality control, cellu- lar infrastructure targets such as cancer metabolism, and antibody-drug conju- gates, with the last two still at the dis- covery stage. Its immunology expertise resides mainly in the last area, antibody- drug conjugates, a focus of Takeda sci- entists in Cambridge and San Diego. As with targeted therapy, he believes further progress in immuno-oncology will require continued study and greater understand- ing of the biology involved. Combinations of immunotherapies will likely be neces- sary in widespread practice to obtain a sufficient immune response to arrest and kill tumors, he believes, at least initially and in clinical development. 0 7 1 4 _ F e a t u r e _ T a k e d a . i n d d 4 0714_Feature_Takeda.indd 4 6 / 2 0 / 2 0 1 4 1 1 : 1 9 : 5 4 A M 6/20/2014 11:19:54 AM