QCDM mentorship program supporting biopharmaceutical research in Quebec

---

Compiled By Shawn Lawrence

In September 2009, the Québec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) initiated a mentoring program led by the biopharma industry to support the continuous alignment of its three funded projects from its first competition. The CQDM launched the program (the first of its kind in Canada), with the needs of the biopharmaceutical industry in mind.

As part of the program, each of the three funded projects announced last year was supported by three mentors appointed by CQDM’s pharma sponsors; AstraZeneca, Merck and Pfizer from their own global organizations. The mentors were chosen for their specific expertise relevant to the field of research and thus paired to off with the three CQDM projects announced last year. These projects included: the Caprion Proteomics project, lead by Eustache Paramithiotis, for the development of new biomarkers for early diagnosis and monitoring of diabetes and for prediction of therapeutic response; the Medicago project, lead by Louis-Phillippe Vezina, for the development of a novel, high throughput technology (VLP express) to accelerate the discovery and development of new vaccine antigens based on virus-like particles; and the Université de Montréal project, lead by Michel Bouvier, for the development of multiplexed biosensors for identifying and monitoring cellular events associated with drugs therapeutic efficacies and side effects.

Although the program was started only a year ago, already both the researchers and mentors are seeing very positive and tangible benefits from this unique initiative.

“We could see from the start we were onto something. We know how it works and we know that it’s already delivering,” states Diane Gosselin, vice president, Research and Business Development CQDM.

“Working with the lead scientists and their teams, the mentors responsibilities include assisting the investigators in understanding the specific needs of the biopharmaceutical industry; ensuring that the projects would bring concrete solutions oriented to the needs of the industry; and lastly providing industrial and scientific support in the successful completion of the project. This includes giving advice to researchers and the right guidance on how to get the project to where they (the pharma sponsors) want them to go,” explains Gosselin. “The mentor’s are not there to evaluate the project; they are there to support the project. They are part of the project and they want it to succeed and as quickly as possible.”

According to Gosselin, the mentors also aid in providing resources for the project when possible, such as clinical samples or access to specific databases. The mentors have their own great networks to turn to and they will provide whenever possible to their protégé’s access to these networks, whether it’s social or scientific.

“In one case the project needed specific expertise in informatics, something that was really possible to find in the pharma industry, it was done through the mentors.”

Moreover because the mentors are the end users of the technology being developed, they are also the best ones to give advice on the technology. As the mentors are very knowledgeable in the field of the research, the comments and discussions are extremely relevant and constructive. Within the CQDM projects, the pharma sponsors have the right to use the technology for research purposes.

“So they’re really well positioned to say first of all, if you’re going to develop that specific tool, maybe you should consider this characteristic or you should orient your project this way because you will align your project or results with the needs of the industry,” states Gosselin. “They are thus well positioned to identify the optimal characteristics and performance objectives of the technology that are needed to accelerate or facilitate the research. Not only do they provide significant industrial expertise but they also facilitate access to a wide industrial network for the protégés. This can also be useful in terms of having access to things like clinical samples, databases and other specific equipment.”

She adds that because the mentors are well positioned to understand the technology and to talk about the technology in their own organizations, it also increases the interest of the pharma company for the research project.

In the case of the Michel Bouvier project, the intervention of the mentors has made the pharmas express very early on their interest to use the technology. This is considered an extraordinary achievement since this isn’t a partnership with a biotech company but rather an academic lab.

For Bouvier, it was opportunities such as these that motivated to even apply for CQDM project status.

“It’s really a program that just fit with what we wanted to accomplish at our lab.

There’s a void in taking basic discoveries and transferring them to applications.

Sometimes it’s too early to really go to one partner, and say we think this will be fantastic, here’s the data. And the risk is often too high for one company to buy such technology that early on. But with the CQDM there are multiple partners involved to dilute the risk, and as such they were willing to get behind the technology, especially with public sector money also behind these projects,” says Michel Bouvier.

Beyond the opportunity of making his technology a reality, Bouvier has also especially appreciated the efforts of the mentors working with him and team on his project.

“We can have their views of how the project is progressing, as well as a much better understanding of the needs that the pharma industry has from the project. We’ve benefited from some very good suggestions on directions that we did not consider taking with the technologies we are developing, or improving on specific items of the project that we’re trying to do,” he said.

The opportunity for researchers at his lab to work with key scientists, establishing direct relationships at the three pharma sponsors research centres was also too good to pass up he says.

The mentors are also well position to bring the results of the research to the attention of the decision makers in their respective organizations, which could ultimately lead to the immediate use of the technology as well as the establishment of future partnerships.

“Overall, I think that the projects have been improved by the mentoring. They have made suggestions, which have improved some items in the project that’s for sure. They also helped us orient the priorities with their ultimate needs, which was important.

And as they (the pharma sponsors) saw the progression of the technology that we are generating and validating in the course of the project, they have already expressed interest in transferring some of its application in some of their research centres. This wasn’t supposed to happen til the end of the projects, which is three years down the road. So you can say there have been immediate results. The fact that they are there, they hear about it, they see the data, they go back to their colleagues in their research centres and share what they’ve learned and what they’ve heard, it clearly accelerated the transfer of these applications,” he said.

Bouvier’s project is not the only one to have doors opened for it thanks to the mentor’s involvement. In fact for both Medicago and Caprion Proteomics, the two biotech’s funded by CQDM, the interactions with the mentors have accelerated discussions with the pharma’s at the global level. As Gosselin explains, to build strong links with the pharma industry is an important asset for a biotech company. In fact, as a result of the strong links nurtured through these projects, discussions are now in an advanced state in at least one case for a new partnership.

As a further point that this is not your usual mentor and protégé relationship, many of the protégé’s are pretty experienced in their own right. As such, the mentorship program also brings strong benefits for the CQDM pharma sponsors as the mentors have a privileged access to highly innovative external research and very talented groups of investigators. The pharma’s are thus in the perfect position to truly appreciate the value of the technology and to create strong links that could eventually lead to fruitful collaborations.

For all these reasons, Gosselin states that the CQDM will continue to follow this model with this year’s four projects.

“We were not expecting such immediate results, we were hoping that perhaps by the end of the project this would take place but not within the first year, so this has been a very interesting development and one we hope to duplicate in the future,” states Gosselin.