Fruit Flies, Worms And Functional Genomics

The physiology of fruit flies and nematode worms may seem a millionmiles away from what goes on in humans, but two-year-old US company Exelixis is betting that the similarities are great enough that these model organisms can be used to chart the biochemical pathways involved in human physiology, and provide targets for treating disease.

In an interview with the Marketletter, Exelixis chief executive George Scangos noted that the structural genomics revolution sweeping the pharmaceutical industry has been a spectacular scientific success, but less impressive commercially, largely because gene sequence alone does not lead directly to new pharmaceuticals. It is only by understanding the biochemical pathways in which the disease genes function, including the regulatory points and interaction with other pathways, that new classes of drugs can be discovered.

While other companies are also adopting a functional genomics approach, Exelixis believes it has a novel technology platform which may give it a key advantage, namely shortening the timeframes in which pathways can be elucidated.