San Diego, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/21/2010 -- Laura Ruchira Das Gupta, Associate Director at Adnexus, a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D company, to speak at GTCbio’s 5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies on Sept. 20-21, 2010 in San Diego, CA.

Ruchira Das Gupta will give a presentation on “Tools and Techniques for Discovery of Adnectins, A Novel Class of Targeted Biologics” at 5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies Conference to be held this year in San Diego, CA Sept. 20-21, 2010 by GTCbio. AdnectinsTM offer numerous potential advantages compared to traditional targeted biologics, including speed of discovery, ease of manufacturing, and the ability to create multi-functional targeted products. Adnectins are generated using Adnexus’ proprietary protein engineering system, PROfusionTM. The presentation outlines Adnexus’ approach in applying PROfusion, as well as automation and screening techniques, to the Adnectin discovery process.

Ruchira Das Gupta received her PhD in human genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. She developed positional cloning technologies and identified genes associated with a haploinsufficiency syndrome on chromosome 22q. She went on to do postdoctoral research on cancer predisposition at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Mutations in mismatch repair genes lead to genetic instability and cancer predisposition—Ruchira used S. cerevisiae as a model system to understand the genetic interactions and biochemistry of some of these proteins. Ruchira joined Compound Therapeutics, (renamed as Adnexus Therapeutics) in 2002 to work on the next generation of protein therapeutics. At Adnexus, Ruchira’s group provides biochemical assay support for targets entering the selection pipeline as well as screening and characterization of the hits from selections.

Also presenting at the Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies are prestigious organizations including Burnham Medical Research Institute, Pfizer, UCSF, AstraZeneca, UCLA, Bristol Myers Squibb, Genentech, National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology, Johnson & Johnson, Nexigen GmbH, University of Pennsylvania, Roche, UCD, Abbott, Merck, Novartis (GNF), and other leaders in the Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies industry.

5th Assay and Drug Discovery Technologies Conference features a mixture of academic, industry and public sector experts in an intimate setting that favors the showcase of data, the exchanges of ideas and networking. Professionals in the drug discovery industry and academics to can get an update of exciting new developments in assay technologies and exchange ideas in developing creative approaches in the drug discovery and development process to improve the efficiency and output. For more information, visit http://www.gtcbio.com.