MDS Pharma Services Hosted Symposium on Kinases and Ion Channels MONTREAL, Sept. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MDS Pharma Services, a leading provider of innovative drug discovery and development solutions, hosted a Scientific Leadership Series symposium on September 20-21 at the company's Bothell, Washington, facility. Leading researchers from industry and academic institutions discussed the challenges and strategies for advancing compounds through the drug discovery process and presented recent discoveries about kinases and ion channels. Individuals interested in receiving a CD-Rom of the following presentations are encouraged to contact . The ability to modulate kinase and ion channel function holds great potential for addressing therapeutic needs in the 21st century. The challenge is to understand complex biological processes mediated by kinases and ion channels, as well as disease states that result when dysfunction arises and develop and identify potent and selective compounds that will safely address patients' therapeutic needs. Topics and speakers for September 20th, focusing on kinases in the context of general profiling strategies, included: - "Complex Profiling Approach to Address Pharmacology Related Liabilities," Laszlo Urban, Ph.D., Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research. - "Preclinical Studies of CHIR258, An Orally Active Small Molecule RTK Inhibitor," Marion Weismann, Ph.D., Chiron. - "Mining the Kinome," Robert Pacifici, Ph.D., Eli Lilly. - "Characterization of Selective Diarylpyrazole Inhibitors of p38 Kinase as Anti-inflammatory Agents," Robert Compton, Ph.D., Pfizer Global Research and Development. - "Potentiated Signaling Proteomics: Kinases, Leukemia and Autoimmunity," Omar Perez, Ph.D., Stanford University. - "Phosphoregulation of Biomarkers in Normal and Disease States," Erik Schaefer, Ph.D., Biosource - "Pharmacological Evaluation Strategies for Reducing Late Stage Attrition of Drug Candidates," Mir Hashim, Ph.D., GlaxoSmithKline. Topics and speakers for September 21st, focusing on ion channels, included: - "Molecular Pharmacology of Voltage-Gated Sodium and Calcium Channels," William Catterall, Ph.D., University of Washington. - "Calcium and Sodium Channels as Targets for Drug Discovery," Lars Knutsen, Ph.D., Ionix Pharmaceuticals. - "Mapping Nicotinic Receptor Diversity: Natural Ligands and Unnatural Animals," Paul Whiteaker, Ph.D., University of Colorado. - "In Vitro and In Vivo Assays for QT Prolongation and Testing Strategies," Peter Chiu, Ph.D., MDS Pharma Services Each day of the symposium wrapped up with a panel discussion moderated by James Baumgartner, Ph.D., technical director, MDS Pharma Services and Laurie Taylor, director, custom screening services, MDS Pharma Services, respectively. In addition, Robert Beland, senior vice president, Discovery and Preclinical, MDS Pharma Services and Daniel Menard, Ph.D., vice president, Pharmacology, MDS Pharma Services also gave remarks. MDS Pharma Services offers a full spectrum of resources to meet the drug discovery and development needs of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. With numerous facilities strategically located around the world, the company applies advanced scientific and technological expertise to each stage of the drug discovery and development process - early stage: lead optimization, pre-IND research, pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical development, early clinical research (bioequivalence, phases I-IIa) and bioanalysis; and late stage: global clinical development (phases IIb-IV) and central lab. For more information, visit MDS Pharma Services' Web site at http://www.mdsps.com/. MDS Pharma Services is part of MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), an international health and life sciences company. At MDS Inc., our 10,000 highly skilled people provide services, products and instruments enabling health sciences organizations to enhance the well being of people around the world. We focus on helping discover and test new drugs, assisting doctors to diagnose and treat patients and preventing the spread of disease. Find out more about MDS Inc. (TSX: MDS; NYSE: MDZ), at http://www.mdsintl.com/ or by calling 1-888-MDS-7222, 24 hours a day. DATASOURCE: MDS Pharma Services CONTACT: Kim Peacock, MDS Pharma Services, 621 Rose Street, Lincoln, Neb., Tel: (402) 476-2811, and visit our Web site at http://www.mdsps.com/

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