Translational medicine

Translating biology into medicine

The Translational Medicine Team forms the crucial bridge between drug discovery and the clinic. Understanding the potential impact of a medicine on patients requires specific skills. Our experts include physicians with a strong background in both biological research and clinical practice. Their dual experience helps them identify diseases which may be quite uncommon, but may actually provide an ideal proving ground for a new drug.

 

Proof of concept trials that give early insight

The Translational Medicine Group guides the design of Proof-of-Concept (PoC) clinical studies, which enable a quick assessment of a compound in a small number of patients against a known (and often rare) disease with a known molecular pathway. These clinical trials are designed to provide an early indication whether a new compound or biological drug can alter the disease pathway and have a therapeutic benefit for patients.  Once we have a successful PoC study, the Novartis R&D strategy is to expand that benefit to people suffering from related diseases.

“The PoC approach is changing the fundamental way we develop drugs. When we test a PoC compound in a few patients, the results come quickly. It accelerates the development plan for the entire project.”  
Gervais Tougas, TM Head

This approach is paying off. We now have a growing number of PoC compounds with indications ranging from hypertension to multiple sclerosis.