Undruggable: Induced Proximity for Cancer and Beyond

Induced proximity makes it possible for scientists to attack undruggable targets by designing medicines that go beyond what conventional drugs can accomplish. Within the next decade, this work could yield new options for treatments for cancer and other diseases that currently have poor prognoses. People whose serious diseases don’t respond to conventional medicines, or who run out of options, may see induced proximity drugs come to the rescue. In this episode, Ray Deshaies is joined by David Reese, executive vice president of Research and Development at Amgen. Dave is responsible for Amgen’s entire pipeline of potential therapies, and he has had a long-standing interest in oncology, both at Amgen and in his pre-Amgen career in academic research and medical practice.

 

Undruggable is a special edition podcast series produced by The Scientist’s Creative Services Team. This series is brought to you by Amgen, a pioneer in the science of using living cells to make biologic medicines. They helped invent the processes and tools that built the global biotech industry, and have since reached millions of patients suffering from serious illnesses around the world with their medicines.

Beginning with the introduction of aspirin at the start of the 20th century, there have been three major waves of innovation in drug discovery. While breakthrough discoveries have been made, 85% of disease targets are still considered undruggable, which represents an ongoing barrier to discovering medicines for complex diseases like cancer and autoimmune conditions. Ray Deshaies, who has spent decades in academic research and is a senior vice president at Amgen, believes that the fourth wave of innovation is here, led by new types of multispecific medicines that will radically alter our concept of how drugs can work and pave the way for new solutions.