Session Chair Profile
Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Genomic Medicine, Takeda Pharmaceutical Inc.
Biography
Dr. Eric Lai is SVP Genomic Medicine at Takeda Pharmaceutical. Before he joined Takeda, he was the SVP and Head of R&D at Gen-Probe (2009 – 2012) and before that he was the VP of Pharmacogenetics at GlaxoSmithKline for 13 years. Dr. Lai received his Ph.D., from Columbia University and did his post-doctoral training at Dr. Lee Hood’s laboratory at CalTech in the early days of the Human Genome Project. He was the co-scientific leader of The SNP Consortium and the Severe Adverse Reaction Consortium. For almost 20 years, Dr. Lai has focused his efforts in the clinical application of Pharmacogenomics in drug development and safety. In 2002, Dr. Lai discovered the association of HLA5701 to Abacavir hypersensitivity reaction and oversaw the clinical development and application of this test. The Abacavir HLA5701 discovery significantly improved the benefit-risk relationship by identifying patients at high risk for a serious drug adverse reaction and is frequently quoted in FDA guidance as one of the most important demonstrations of precision medicine.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2017 Silicon Valley
Session Synopsis: Precision Medicine requires the cooperation of two major stakeholders with distinctly different businesses, Pharmaceutical and Diagnostics, working together to achieve the approval of drugs with diagnostics. Using specific case studies, this session will debate the often “opposing sides” of co-development, with the goal of maximizing communication, understanding and impact for future projects.
