Sartorius Research Xchange Forum 2017 Explores the Trends and Challenges in Oncology

Connecting the dots between university research and implementation in industrial manufacture: the Research Xchange Forum, hosted by the international pharma and laboratory supplier Sartorius, will take place on February 22 and 23, 2017, in Goettingen, Germany. This industry platform that addresses scientists and staff from academic research institutes and industry will be dedicated entirely to oncology. Keynote presentations given by internationally recognized scientists and representatives from research and development will provide insights into the latest developments of their specific cancer research and therapy approaches.

In addition to providing information on gene therapies and cancer immunotherapy using monoclonal antibodies, the conference will additionally focus on DNA repair mechanisms, drug delivery and cancer stem cell research. In her keynote address, Professor Maja Banks-Köhn, Ph.D., of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) will report on new interdisciplinary approaches in the inhibition of cancer-promoting phosphatases.

“As a leading pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier, we are well aware of the challenges of translating research findings into clinical practice,” stated Michael Melingo, member of the Group Executive Committee and President of the Lab Products & Services Division at Sartorius. “With this Forum, we aim to offer our customers and all those engaged in this field a platform for entering into a dialog and to accelerate this translation process.”

According to current market figures, cancer therapy drugs account for nearly 90 percent of late phase clinical trials in the drug discovery industry. Nearly 600 cancer drug candidates are currently in the advanced clinical trial phases. Around half of these active pharmaceutical ingredients are recombinant drugs, including 16 gene therapeutics, more than 80 monoclonal antibodies and 15 biosimilars.

Progress in oncology is particularly based on excellent collaboration between drug discovery and applied research. “We are consistently implementing a number of measures to enable researchers to reach these goals faster by breakthrough innovations, such as the new cell analysis platform for immuno-oncology, which has been integrated into the Sartorius portfolio following the acquisition of IntelliCyt,” stated Terry Dunlay, who heads the Bioanalytics unit. This is also reflected in the subjects that will be covered by the scientific forum.

“Cancer challenges us from both a social and a business perspective. In sharing information with our customers, we experience on a daily basis how important it is to transfer knowledge from drug discovery into effective treatment. With our Xchange Forum, we would primarily like to offer new ideas and inspiration to participants for their work,” said Karen Storm, Vice President of Marketing of the Lab Products & Services Division.

For more infomation, visit the Research Xchange Forum webpage.