Charles River Discovery Services – Relevant Science in a Time of Great Change

The acquisition of Piedmont Research Center, LLC and Cerebricon Ltd. in 2009 and recent conversion of these companies into the new branch of the business Charles River Discovery Services has created a new integrated portfolio of services and solutions for the company.

Emily Hickey, Corporate Vice President, Discovery Research Services, talked to SelectScience about the companies’ recently released therapeutic models, lead generation and the global evolution of the model for drug discovery.

Hickey, who has been with the company less than a year, joined because she saw Charles River as a well-known CRO, strong in science with the ability to deliver above client expectations. “I was drawn to Charles River based on their operational excellence and client-focused approach. The people at Charles River have a strong ‘can-do’ attitude and a willingness to work towards the success of each client.” Hickey added that Charles River’s fast-paced environment, rapid decision making, and engaged team of intelligent and driven colleagues made her excited to work at the Company.

Emily is an experienced drug discovery executive with a proven track record for establishing and leading a successful global discovery business. Her experience spans from target discovery through preclinical development in a global pharmaceutical organization for both human and animal health. Emily was the Executive Director of In Vivo Pharmacology at Merck Research Labs, leading the development and implementation of the externalization strategy for in vivo studies.

The pharmaceutical industry is going through some massive changes at the moment. This is described as a unique time for the industry and evolution of the classic drug discovery model. Hickey commented to SelectScience, “This is a time of great change in the drug discovery industry. Previously, CROs were viewed by some sectors as a straight fee-for-service provider. Now, the trend is to develop a true partnership to leverage the strengths of both partners towards the ultimate goal for the programs in need.”

In 2012 the company was organized into an integrated portfolio of services and solutions, both in vitro and in vivo, with applications, models, therapeutic platforms (oncology, neuroscience, metabolic and immune diseases) and therapeutic agnostics in safety, DMPK and liability. The plan since then has been to broaden their client base (currently both academic and companies in all stages of the Drug Discovery process) and to progress into lead generation.

Earlier this year Charles River Discovery Serviceslaunched four new rat pain models to support their own and clients’ in vivo studies. The models will focus on behavioral, neuropathic, inflammatory and chronic joint indications. Charles River Discovery Services are keen to promote these models as a push by the company to provide better and more ‘relevant’ endpoints for companies developing pain medications, as well as providing a better ‘transition’ between the discovery phases and first in-human studies.

Hickey was keen to elaborate further on the importance of CROs helping bridge this gap. She said, “There is a demand for drug discovery to become more efficient across all sectors, from large pharma to academic institutes. This trend opens an opportunity for additional outsourcing or partnering with CROs that maintain a strong focus on quality and operational efficiency, while at the same time, minimizing the capabilities required to be maintained within the partner company.”

Overall Hickey sees Charles River Discovery Servicesas a one stop shop for drug discovery that can integrate with clients’ own internal work. “Everyone in every facet of drug discovery is now forced to think differently on how they approach a scientific problem. Gone are the days of the volume approach to moving a program to the next milestone. Scientists have to ask tougher, more detailed questions in the very early days of a program to enable appropriate decisions in a cost-effective manner. By moving more of the high throughput efforts in this process to a CRO like Charles River, companies can focus their internal resources on these more detailed questions.”