The Future of Pharmaceuticals

The Future of Pharmaceuticals

Drug discovery companies, like Celera Genomics and Millennium, use genomic and proteomic data for developing new pharmaceuticals. Ellen Beasley, director of bioinformatics at Celera, says, “Bioinformatics is especially useful in early stages of target identification and the drug-target validation process.”

In general, Celera takes three approaches to drug discovery. One involves proteomics. For example, Beasley says, “We look for differential expression of cell surface proteins related to cancer.” Celera scientists also use genetics for drug discovery. Investigators from Celera and Celera Diagnostics, for instance, recently resequenced 80 percent to 90 percent of the human genes in 39 individuals and identified over 40,000 new functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). “This unique SNP resource then becomes the basis for seeking associations between genes and disease,” Beasley says. “The genes identified in these association studies may also be therapeutic targets.” Third, Celera acquired Axys Pharmaceuticals to develop drugs against protease targets.


Overall, reaching the full potential of bioinformatics demands collaborations. Companies must work together—teaming up directly or simply making their tools compatible across corporate lines—to give research scientists all of the experimental and analytical power available. Such goodwill could lead to prosperity for companies and researchers alike.