Recommendations from the Industry Liaison Group to the Executive Committee of the Pharmacogenetics Research Network

January 11, 2001
Executive Summary

An Industry Liaison Group was formed in order to promote a dialogue between the recently formed Pharmacogenetics Research Network and Knowledge Base, PharmGKB and members of the pharmaceutical industry. The January 11 meeting was a forum to identify common areas of interest and complementary goals, to pursue at the present time and in the future. A joint roster and agenda are below.

Members of the Industry Liaison Group indicated that the pharmaceutical industry will likely have an interest in using PharmGKB. They recommended working with the Pharmacogenetics Research Network on several common areas of high priority for both industry and academia. These areas are: 1) educating the public about the potential value of pharmacogenetics research, 2) sharing expertise in pre-competitive areas (e.g., nomenclature, analytic tools, ethics), and 3) continuing individual research collaborations in areas of mutual scientific interest. Specific topics discussed and identified for follow-up include sharing common standards for terminology used in protocol designs, exchanging language used in informed consents, and emphasizing the protection of patient confidentiality. The group recommended further coordination and exchange of non-proprietary information.

Roster

Russ B. Altman, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford University
Medical School Office Building, X-215
251 Campus Drive
Stanford, CA 94305-5479

Donald C. Anderson, M.D.
Pharmacia Corporation
7000 Portage Road
7272-24-113
Kalamazoo, MI 49001-0199

Christopher P. Austin, M.D. (not in attendance)
Merck Research Laboratories
WP26A-3000
P.O. Box 4
West Point, PA 19486

Lee E. Babiss, Ph.D.
Hoffmann-La Roche Inc.
Preclinical Research and Development
340 Kingsland Street
Nutley, NJ 07110

Kathleen M. Giacomini, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
School of Pharmacy, Box 0446
513 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94143-0446

Penelope K. Manasco, M.D.
GlaxoSmithKline
5 Moore Drive
Building 5, Room 5804
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709

Mark J. Ratain, M.D.
University of Chicago
5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 2115
Chicago, IL 60637-1470

Brian B. Spear, Ph.D.
Abbott Laboratories
Department 424, AP6A-1
100 Abbott Park Road
Abbott Park, IL 60064-6008

Vincent P. Stanton Jr., M.D.
Variagenics, Inc.
60 Hampshire Street
Cambridge, MA 02139

Richard M. Weinshilboum, M.D.
Mayo Foundation Rochester
Division of Pharmacology
200 First Street, S.W.
Rochester, MN 55905

Scott Weiss, M.D.
Channing Laboratories
Brigham and Women's Hospital
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115

NIGMS Program Director

Rochelle M. Long, Ph.D.
Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Natcher Building, Room 2AS.49G
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: (301) 594-1826
Fax: (301) 480-2802
rochelle_long@nih.gov
Assistant: Michelle Blanco
Tel: (301) 594-1826
michelle_blanco@nih.gov

NIGMS Observers

Richard A. Anderson, M.D., Ph.D.
Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Natcher Building, Room 2AS.25B
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: (301) 594-0943
Fax: (301) 480-2228
andersor@nigms.nih.gov

Marvin Cassman, Ph.D.
Director
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institute of Health
Natcher Building, Room 2AN.12B
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: (301) 594-2172
Fax: (301) 402-0156
cassmanm@nigms.nih.gov

Michael Rogers, Ph.D.
Director
Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
National Institutes of Health
Natcher Building, Room 2AS.49G
45 Center Drive MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD 20892-6200
Tel: (301) 594-1829
Fax: (301) 480-2802
michael_rogers@nih.gov

Agenda

8:30 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m.Welcome on Behalf of NIGMS, NIH
Marvin Cassman
9:10 a.m.Charge to the Group ( Questions List)
Mark Ratain
9:20 a.m.Overview/Background of the Pharmacogenetics Research Network
Rochelle Long

Discussion of the Initiative

10:00 a.m.Presentation of the PharmGKB
Russ Altman
Discussion of the Knowledge Base
10:50 a.m. Break
11:00 a.m.Research Summaries
Kathy Giacomini
Dick Weinshilboum
Scott Weiss
Mark Ratain
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m.Industry Presentations
Brian Spear
Penny Manasco
Lee Babiss
Vince Stanton
Donald Anderson
2:15 p.m.General Discussion
Review of the Questions List
Discussion of the Industry/Academic Panel at April 25, 2001 Meeting
4:00 p.m.Adjourn

Questions List

PharmGKB, the Pharmacogenetics Knowledge Base

  • What kinds of information should be placed into a public resource (PharmGKB)? What would push the field forward for all researchers?
  • What are the conditions and timing that would encourage for-profit organizations to deposit data into PharmGKB?

Academic/Industry Interactions

  • Are there areas best allocated to academic studies, as well as areas best addressed by industrial efforts? What are they?
  • Could there be interactions with this effort at the pre-competitive level by sharing expertise, data, tools, or algorithms?
  • Are there creative ways to complement each other's efforts?

Approaches to Pharmacogenetics Studies

  • Can industry experience with high-throughput approaches be reasonably applied to the academic model of research?
  • Where will genotype to phenotype approaches be the most productive, and where will phenotype to genotype approaches be best?
  • What kinds of study designs and sample sizes are necessary (e.g., acceptable detection levels, rare vs. common polymorphisms)?