Industry Watch Medical Imaging in Drug

In our last column (PharmaGenomics 4[1], 16–19 [2004]), we began to explore the shift to a broader-than-diagnostic view of the value of imaging technologies. It stands to reason that imaging should play some broader role. After all, as Robert Dunkle reports in a recent article, “Up to 70% of the experiments in pharmaceutical research and development result in an image as an output” (1). Of course, Dunkle is referring to virtually every kind of image one could imagine, from a snapshot taken of a slide through a microscope to the kinds of magnetic resonance images (MRIs), computed tomography (CT) scans, positron emission tomography (PET) scans, X-rays and ultrasounds we discussed last month. But even considering only “hightech” imaging, its use in discovery and development definitely is on the rise. In this column, we want to explore issues related to imaging at the molecular level. Molecular imaging merges the modern tools of molecular and cell biology with state-of-the-art technology. The goal is to develop technologies and assays for imaging molecular and cellular events in living organisms, thus aiding in finding better methods for studying biological processes. It’s truly interdisciplinary: “The term ‘molecular imaging’ implies the convergence of multiple image-capture techniques, basic cell/molecular biology, chemistry, medicine, pharmacology, medical physics, biomathematics and bioinformatics into a new imaging paradigm” (2). We’re interested in what molecular imaging can do for drug development and discovery. Can it improve the drug development process? In what specific activities could it be most useful? One note: we’re indebted to David Wine, a graduate student at the MIT Sloan School of Management, who produced an outstanding overview of the issues in a literature review he prepared for a class — Research Themes in Management of Technology (3).