Lidia Sambucetti, Ph.D., director of cancer drug discovery in SRI'sBiosciences Division, will be one of four lecturers in a 3:15 pm - 5:15 pmeducation session on Saturday, April 12 titled, "From Chemistry to theClinic: Pathways for Drug Discovery and Development." Dr. Sambucetti willdiscuss the development process needed to produce the chemistry,manufacturing and controls (CMC) package suitable for clinical filing andsubsequent approval with the FDA and present a case study describing thedevelopment of novel tissue-selective, estrogen receptor modulators(SERMs).

"SRI does a tremendous amount of work translating ideas into promising newtherapies. We know that the development process to produce a compoundsuitable for clinical filing and eventual approval is detailed andcomplex," said Dr. Sambucetti. "For this reason, it is imperative to have afocused multidisciplinary discovery and development team."

Dr. Sambucetti's case studies will describe how challenges weresuccessfully met in the development of a new steroidal estrogen receptorantagonist (SR16234/TAS-108), currently in clinical trials, and demonstratethe innovation that led to other novel anti-cancer agents (SR16157,SR16388) with unique profiles and mechanisms-of-action.

Other lecturers joining Dr. Sambucetti on the panel include William Bautaof Genzyme Corporation, James Porter of Infinity Pharmaceuticals andAnthony Haight of Abbot Laboratories.

About SRI's Biosciences Division

SRI International's Biosciences Division teams with pharmaceutical andbiotechnology companies, academia, foundations, and government agencies tosolve important problems in global health. SRI Biosciences conducts basicresearch, drug discovery, and drug development, including contractresearch. SRI has all of the resources necessary to take R&D programs from"idea to IND"™ -- from initial discovery to investigational new drugapplications to start human clinical trials -- and specializes in cancer,immunology and inflammation, infectious disease, and neuroscience research.To date, SRI has helped advance more than 100 drugs into clinical trials,including a number of its own discoveries, several of which have reachedthe market. SRI is also working at the nexus of science and technology tocreate new technology platforms for the next generation of drug discoveryand development in areas such as diagnostics, drug delivery, medicaldevices, and systems biology.

About SRI International

Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world'sleading independent research and technology development organizations.Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting thestrategic needs of clients for more than 60 years. The nonprofit researchinstitute performs client-sponsored research and development for governmentagencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. In addition toconducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategicpartnerships, and creates spin-off companies.