Thirty years of evolution in an academic drug discovery program: Then and now

The search for drugs from the sea has progressed slowly and often with frustration over the past thirty years with a number of compounds showing early promise but ultimately failing in the clinic. However, the recent success of Prialt, Yondelis and Halaven, along with a robust pipeline of candidates in clinical trials has reinvigorated academic-based drug discovery. Our program has focused on creating a pure marine invertebrate compound library which we have named MICL and utilizing this library in assays targeting cellular components or pathways commonly over-expressed or selectively expressed in tumor cell lines. This presentation will provide a 30 year perspective on my research program as well as our newest results from several exciting projects including our recent exploration of combining natural product in vitro and virtual screening methodology.