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| Biography |
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Frank Walsh received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from University College, London, in 1977. He then undertook a one-year post doctoral research fellowship at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, returning to the UK in 1979 to the Institute of Neurology in London. In 1989, Frank moved to the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy’s and St. Thomas’s Hospitals, London, becoming the Sir William Dunn Professor of Experimental Pathology, and later served as the Research Dean.In 1997, Frank moved to SmithKline Beecham (SB) Pharmaceuticals at Harlow, UK, to become Vice President and Director of Neuroscience Research. With the creation of GSK Frank became Senior Vice President and Head of the Company’s Neurology-CEDD. In 2002, Frank moved to Wyeth Research, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, USA and is the Executive Vice President, Discovery Research Worldwide.Frank serves on a number of advisory boards including the UK Medical Research Council’s Centre for Developmental Neurobiology; the ALS Research Center at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA; and the CEO Council of the New York Academy of Sciences. He holds Visiting Professorships at London University’s King’s College, the University College Dublin, and was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2003. In 2004, Frank was awarded an Honorary Degree “Laurea Honoraris Causa,” in Chemistry and Technology of Drugs from the University of Perugia, Italy. Frank is currently Chief Editor of the journal, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience.
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| Abstract |
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Innovative Drug Discovery |
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Drug Discovery and Development is a challenging and complex process that involves the dedicated multidisciplinary efforts of many R&D functions. It is becoming increasingly more expensive to carry out innovative drug discovery, and fewer novel therapeutics are making it to market. This story is seemingly the same across the entire industry.
Since 2001 Wyeth Discovery Research has placed an impressive 60 new molecular entities into development in 60 months. This industry-leading productivity rate has been the result of a number of newly introduced technologies, initiatives and process improvements that have been implemented, as well as organizational re-design in the face of the changing R&D landscape. One of the unique drivers of success at Wyeth is our ability to access all three currently validated therapeutic platforms; small molecules, proteins and vaccines. This multi-platform approach allows us to increase the number of “shot on goal” for therapeutic targets and to select the most appropriate system given the disease and the patient needs. We have been very successful in bringing a number of therapeutics to the market in all three of these platforms, with drugs such as EnbrelTM, a protein therapeutic for rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, EffexorTM, a serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor for depression, and PrevenarTM, a multivalent vaccine for s. pneumoniae. Indeed, not only have we successfully commercialized life-changing products based on each of these platforms, we also continue to pursue new and innovative drug targets in each of these areas. |
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