Applications of Nucleic Acids Technologies in Molecular Diagnostics
Molecular Diagnostics - Tuesday, April 27, 2010
7:00
Registration and Coffee
Regulatory Pathways and Quality Strategies
8:00
Chairperson's Remarks
B. Melina Cimler, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Beckman-Coulter Inc.
Keynote Presentations
8:10
Commercialization of IVDs Labeled for Research Use Only or Investigational Use Only
FDA has labeling requirements for diagnostic devices at different stages of development. Failure to comply with the appropriate requirements may put diagnostic device developers at risk for FDA attention. This presentation will explain the meaning of the different requirements, and when to apply different types of labels to devices, and how to avoid making errors in labeling.
Elizabeth Mansfield, Ph.D., Director for Personalized Medicine, OIVD, CDRH, US FDA
8:50
Challenges in Drug and Diagnostic Co-Development -A Diagnostic Perspective
We are in a period of much discussed personalized medicine and targeted molecular therapy. While there has been considerable investment in understanding the role molecular assays will play in predicting sensitivity or resistance to new drugs, significant challenges remain. Selecting patients most likely to benefit from these agents has given rise to expanding interest in development of new companion diagnostics. Challenges and practical consideration in the co-development of drugs and diagnostics from a diagnostic regulatory perspective will be discussed.
William Pignato, Global Head, Regulatory Affairs, Novartis Molecular Diagnostics
9:30
Networking Refreshment Break
10:15
Case
Study
From Biomarkers to Companion Diagnostics: Opportunities and Challenges of Rx-Dx Co-Development
One key to success of targeted cancer therapy is appropriate integration of biomarkers into all stages of drug development. Challenges of implementation of biomarker programs reside in understanding cancer pathways, thoughtful selection of testing technology, and constant dialogue throughout the co-development process. Examples will be provided of drug-test co-development to illustrate approaches of streamlining to ensure efficient translation of biomarkers into future companion diagnostics.
Helen Wu, Ph.D., Research Leader, Genomics and Oncology, Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.
10:45
Diagnostic Opportunities in Lung Cancer: Use of a Mass Spectrometry Platform for Identification of Differentially Expressed Peptides in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumor Cells
Biomarkers assays may have considerable value in detection/diagnosis of lung cancer. We have used a mass spectrometry platform to identify candidates for immunoassay biomarker panels. The panels allows one to accurately differentiate malignant disease from controls. including those with benign lung disease. This provides opportunities for disease management of lung cancer at multiple points potentially leading to better outcomes for patients.
Steve Ruben, Ph.D., VP Research, Celera Genomics
11:15
Reliability & Consistency in the Supply of Oligonucleotides: The Quality System Regulation (QSR) as a Roadmap
The Quality System Regulation (QSR) identifies elements necessary for an effective quality system for medical devices. It provides a roadmap to assure reliable and consistent production of oligonucleotides by establishing good manufacturing processes and specifications by alignment with user needs and intended uses. Additionally, the manufacturer has the flexibility and responsibility to establish criteria that is applicable to its own products.
Fred D. Lasky, Ph.D., Lasky Consulting
Audience Interactive Panel Discussion
11:45
Pathways to Market with Escalating Global Regulatory Expectations
Moderator:
B. Melina Cimler, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Government Affairs, Beckman-Coulter Inc.
Panelists: all morning speakers
12:30
Networking Luncheon in Poster and Exhibit Hall
Manufacturing and Business Considerations for Successful Launch in Clinical Market
1:35
Chairperson's Remarks
Diane Wolfe, General Manager, Eurogentec North America, Inc.
1:45
Case
Study
PNA Probes: From an Academic Curiosity to In Vitro Diagnostic Kits
A case study on how to bring a nascent molecular technology from proof-of-principle to approved IVD products that improve patient care and management. This presentation will highlight issues and successes on the journey through product development, clinical trials, manufacturing, sales, and marketing.
Henrik Stender, Ph.D., Vice President R&D and Co-Founder, AdvanDx, Inc.
Audience Interactive Panel Discussion
2:15
Intellectual Property so its Intellectual Property: Update on Critical Patents
This presentation will review key patents relating to DNA diagnostics, including PCR. We will highlight certain claims in order to give guidance to kit design so as to avoid freedom-to-operate problems. An audience interactive panel discussion will follow so you can ask your questions to the experts.
Moderator:
Peter G. Carroll, Ph.D., J.D., Founding Partner, Medlen & Carroll, LLP
3:15
Networking Refreshment Break in Poster and Exhibit Hall
3:45
What a Commercial Laboratory Needs or How We Both Can Make Money and Improve Health
This presentation will concentrate on the technical requirements, regulatory issues and financial drivers of a commercial lab. Gain guidance from the expert on avoiding common pitfalls encountered by many biotech companies. Reimbursement, technical and clinical validation, positive and negative predictive value, and regulations from CLIA, FDA and New York will be discussed..
Charles Strom, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director, Genetic Testing Center, Quest Diagnostics, Nichols Institute
4:15
Primer and Probe Design for Field-Deployable Diagnostic Kits
Field-deployable diagnostics are critical for biodefense, military, and public health applications. As PCR's field use is limited due to multiple constraints, isothermal amplification offers great promise. Several isothermal methods have been developed; all use primers and probes of unique structure and design rules. We will discuss potential solutions to applying automated assay design through web software, with the goal of improving field diagnostics.
Raymond Peterson, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Celadon Laboratories
4:45
Case
Study
How to Develop Assays with Limited Resources: Rapid Re-Design and Validation of New Kits for Fungal Detection
This talk will describe the development of a real-time PCR assay for the detection of fungal pathogens. It will highlight key considerations for design, development, manufacturing and validation and emphasise the benefits of using standard conditions to allow rapid development of multiple products.
Adrian Moody, Ph.D., Director, R&D and Scientific Affairs, Myconostica, United Kingdom
5:15
Networking Reception in Poster and Exhibit Hall
Molecular Diagnostics - Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Analytical Methods and Validation
8:00
Chairperson's Remarks
Dick Keys, Ph.D., Bioorganic Chemistry, Diagnostics Technology Manager
8:15
Development, Implementation, Validation, and Approval of LDT's: The Clinical Laboratory's Role
The presenter will provide contemporaneous information useful to laboratory professionals who are interested in implementing new methods for laboratory developed tests (LDT’s) in a rapidly changing scientific and regulatory environment. Steps required to implement, validate, and offer molecular testing services for LDT’s will be discussed in relation to compliance requirements, including increasing oversight from federal and state agencies based on risk analysis and intended use of the test.
Jan Turczyn, Director, Siemens Clinical Laboratory, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics
8:45
Commutability in Molecular Diagnostics
Inconsistency among laboratories in quantitative measurements of CMV viral load limits interinstitutional comparisons. A critical component of standardization is the use of calibrators that are traceable and commutable. Commutabiilty studies demonstrate that an important goal in the effort to improve healthcare for patients with CMV-related disease is the establishment of traceable and commutable reference materials.
Jerry Boonyaratanakornkit, Research Scientist, Research and Development, AcroMetrix, Inc.
9:15
Strategies for Applying Mass Spectrometry for Oligonucleotide Quality Assessment
Mass spectrometry has emerged as a primary characterization technique for oligonucleotide analysis as a proof-of-structure tool with determination of molecular mass as a key indication of product quality in oligo synthesis laboratories. This presentation will highlight the some of the tools that we have been working on to streamline the assessment of product quality for oligonucleotides using electrospray mass spectrometry.
Mark E. Hail, Ph.D., President, Novatia, LLC
9:45
Networking Refreshment Break in Poster and Exhibit Hall
10:15
NIST SRM 2374: A Certified Reference Material to Support Confidence in Gene Expression Measurements
NIST has hosted the External RNA Control Consortium, an industry-initiated ad-hoc standards development effort, to develop materials that can be used to assess the technical performance of gene expression assays. This effort has led to the development of a new certified reference material (CRM), "NIST SRM 2374: DNA Sequence Library for External RNA Controls." This material represents a first-of-its-kind CRM, certified for sequence, with confidence estimates for each of the ~90000 nucleotides. The latest data from the ERCC testing of these materials will be presented, including performance assessment in a variety of applications.
Marc L. Salit, Ph.D., Head of Gene Expression Metrology Team, NIST
New Technologies
10:45
Case
Study
LNA™ Based Universal RT microRNA PCR System
Using a Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA™) based miRNA detection technology we have developed a high throughput QPCR system optimized for detection of miRNAs in clinical paraffin-embedded tissue as well as blood derived plasma or serum. The use of the LNA™ bases adds critical specificity and sensitivity creating a more robust system for more rapid assay development in the clinical and diagnostic assay development.
Adam Baker, Ph.D., Director of Diagnostic Product Development, Exiqon A/S, Denmark
11:15
Universal Transcription-Mediated Amplification (uTMA): A New Assay Format for Quantitative Multiplex Real-Time Analysis
A quantitative multiplex assay format has been developed utilizing a universal TMA approach. In this assay a pair of sequence tags is incorporated into each analyte using a unique, target capture-mediated approach. The assay is sensitive, accurate and precise and displays very low multiplex primer interference. A PCA3/PSA/internal control triplex assay has been developed as a proof of principle.
Norman C. Nelson, Ph.D., Senior Director, Discovery Research, Gen-Probe Incorporated
11:45
MethylScope and MethylScreen: DNA Methylation-Based Technologies with Wide Applicability to Cancer Personalized Medicine
Epigenetic abnormalities provide a rich source of biomarkers with broad applications in diagnostics and prognostics/theranostics. MethylScope, an oligonucleotide microarray-based technology, generates genome-wide DNA methylation profiles. MethylScreen is a quantitative PCR-based assay platform used for the sensitive and accurate detection of locus-specific DNA methylation states. The use of MethylScreen for biomarker discovery and MethylScreen for efficient biomarker validation and assay development will be presented.
Jared Ordway, Ph.D., Director of Research and Development, Orion Genomics, LLC
12:15
Networking Lunch in Poster and Exhibit Hall
Final Opportunity for Poster and Exhibit Viewing
Luncheon Technology Workshop
1:30
Improvement of the Sensitivity of Molecular Diagnostics Assays by Replacing PCR with Cold-PCR
We describe COLD-PCR, a novel modification of PCR that enables selective amplification of mutant alleles without a-priori information on the position of a mutation. By replacing PCR with COLD-PCR, practically all existing mutation-detection methods (Sanger Sequencing, High resolution melting, dHPLC, and others) increase their sensitivity by ~50-100-fold. COLD-PCR is expected to have diverse applications in the fields of molecular diagnostics, biomarkers, genomic instability, infectious diseases, methylation testing and pre-natal identification of fetal alleles in mother's blood.
G. Mike Makrigiorgos, Ph.D, Associate Professor; Director, Physics and Biophysics Division, Radiation Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
2:00
Unnatural Base Pair Systems for Diagnostic Applications
Unnatural base pair systems provide a new technology based on the expansion of the genetic alphabet, enabling the site-specific incorporation of functional components of interest into DNA and RNA. We have developed several unnatural base pairs that function in PCR and transcription with high efficiency and fidelity and are now applying them to new DNA probe and PCR detection techniques for diagnostics.
Ichiro Hirao, Ph.D., Team Leader, Systems and Structural Biology Center (SSBC), RIKEN; President, TagCyx Biotechnologies, Japan
2:30
Zip Nucleic Acids - High Affinity Primers and Probes as Promising Tools for Molecular Diagnostics
Zip Nucleic Acids (ZNAs) are modified oligonucleotides conjugated with cationic units that decrease electrostatic repulsions between nucleic acid strands. The modification increases the melting temperature of the oligonucleotide and accelerates the target recognition. The presentation will describe how ZNAs improve qPCR and reverse-transcription when used as primers or probes.
Nathalie Lenne, Ph.D., Project Leader, R&D, Polyplus-transfection, France
3:00
Development of a New GMP TAQ Polymerase for Improved PCR Performance
PCR is the method of choice for many diagnostic applications. A new hot-start method was developed that improves the efficiency, specificity, yield and sensitivity of the PCR reaction. HOT Diamond TAQTM is manufactured according to a GMP-Pharma process; resulting in an exhaustively characterized, lot-to-lot reproducible enzyme, with extremely low residual DNA content.
Marie-Claire Beckers, Ph.D., Product Development Manager, Eurogentec S.A., Belgium
3:30
Networking Refreshment Break
3:45
Novel Approach for Manufacturing DNA Microarrays
Our highly innovative probe printing process generates and transfers nucleic acid molecules from one surface onto another, without loss of spatial resolution, in just three steps. Such process is congenial to longer strands, well above the current industrial standard of 25-60nt. To this purpose new platforms with longmers are being developed to address unique demands of the diagnostic and clinical market.
Andrea Cuppoletti, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer, Molecular Stamping, Italy
4:15
SmartFinder: New Real-time PCR platform for Detection of 19 Respiratory Pathogens Simultaneously
Up to now real time PCR detection of infectious agents was limited to 4-5 pathogens. Multiplex approaches using beads detection or capillary electrophoresis are able to detect up to 20 targets. We have developed the SmartFinder technology enabling highly complex realtime PCR assays. The power of this new technology was demonstrated by detection of 19 respiratory pathogens simultaneously.
Guus Simons Ph.D., CEO, PathoFinder BV, The Netherlands
4 :45
Sample Prep for Next Gen Sequencing
Second generation sequencing technologies are supported by workflows that are relatively complicated and labor intensive, requiring skilled labor and significant hands-on time to prepare samples for each instrument. At Beckman Coulter we have created a simplified automated workflow for the leading second generation sequencing platforms that utilizes the core SPRI™ magnetic particle to create an automated system for sample preparation.
Patrick J. Finn, Director, Product Development Center, Beckman Coulter Genomics
5:15
Close of Applications of Nucleic Acids Technologies in Molecular Diagnostics