BG Medicine Announces Article in Nature Reviews - Drug Discovery; Describes Role of Systems Biology12/22/2005WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 22, 2005--BG Medicine announces the publication of an article in the December issue of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery(1) that describes the emerging role of a systems approach in drug discovery and drug development. In this article in one of the prestigious Nature periodicals two BG Medicine affiliated researchers, Drs. Jan van der Greef and Robert N. McBurney, advocate a shift from target-centric drug discovery to a systems approach. The article describes an approach to systems biology and systems pharmacology consistent with the BG Medicine platform and approach. Systems biology is the study of an organism as an integrated and interacting network of genes, proteins and biochemical reactions that give rise to life. Instead of analyzing individual components or aspects of the organism, such as sugar metabolism or a cell nucleus, systems biologists focus on all the components and the interactions among them, all as part of one system. The systems pharmacology field has emerged to apply systems biology concepts and practices to the discovery and development of drugs whose effects and risks take into account the whole organism (person). This is in contrast with the "target-centric" methods used by the pharmaceutical industry for the past thirty years which take a narrower view and can lead to unintended reactions. "Systems biology is rapidly going from promising concept to reality," said Pieter Muntendam, MD, CEO of BG Medicine. "This article in a leading Nature publication illustrates the growing interest in systems biology applications and how such studies can transform pharmaceutical R&D," About Nature Reviews Drug Discovery Nature Reviews Drug Discovery integrates academia and industry, providing broad, in-depth coverage of the drug discovery and development arena - from disease mechanisms, novel therapeutic approaches and chemistry to clinical trials and regulatory affairs. All reviews are carefully commissioned, written by leaders in the field and subject to rigorous peer-review so that readers receive independent, high-quality and authoritative articles in each issue. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery is a publication of Nature Publishing Group. For more information, visit http://www.nature.com/nrd/index.html. About BG Medicine BG Medicine is pioneering the commercial application of Systems Pharmacology, which is based on scientific advances in the Systems Biology field. For more information about BG Medicine please visit www.bg-medicine.com. (1) J. v.d. Greef, & R.N. McBurney: Rescuing drug discovery: in-vivo systems pathology and systems pharmacology. Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 4, 61-67 (2005). |