Author: Victoria Vergona

Senior Clinical Scientist, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the Takeda Oncology Company

“The Other Side of Science: the Many Faces of Drug Development”

It is the mission of pharmaceutical research companies to take the path from understanding a disease to bringing safe and effective new treatment to patients. Researchers work together to discover the best possible potential drug to effectively fight the disease, test the new compound first in the laboratory and then the clinic for safety and efficacy, and finally to gain approval and get the new drug into the hands of doctors and patients. This whole process takes an average of 10-15 years, and requires the talent and skills of a diverse group of people to make it happen. In “The Other Side of Science: the Many Faces of Drug Development” we will focus on describing some of the many jobs needed to develop a drug once it is ready to be tested in humans to fight cancer, using specific examples of individuals in each of these positions, what drove them to that specific career path, and how they got there, and lastly what they like and dislike about their current positions.