1—The development of novel mechanisms and combination therapies in HIV, which have turned a universally fatal disease into a chronic one.
2—Targeted cancer therapies. Novartis’ imatinib (Gleevec) is the poster child for this.
3—Sequencing the human genome, and rapidly expanding the technology to allow the analysis of comparative genomes across species and disease areas (e.g., the cancer genome.)
4—RNA Interference. This is revolutionizing the ability to study the function of individual, and networks of genes, and raising the potential for a whole new class of therapeutics.
5—Stem cells. While still largely a science project, it holds vast potential to impact almost all areas of medicine.
6—Last, but unfortunately not least….the FDA has moved dramatically to a focus on risk as a primary concern, rather than the balance of risk/reward. This has begun to significantly stifle innovation and progress.
[Editor’s Note: As the decade comes to an end, we’ve asked Xconomists and other technology leaders around the country to identify the top innovations they’ve seen in their fields the past 10 years, or predict the top disruptive technologies that will impact the next decade.]
Author: James Topper
Dr Topper joined Frazier Healthcare in 2003 as a Venture Partner and became a General Partner in 2005. Since joining Frazier Healthcare, Dr. Topper has led multiple biopharma investments. In particular, he was responsible for the formation and financing of Arête Therapeutics, an innovative drug development company that is pursuing preclinical and clinical development of lead compounds directed at a novel proprietary target for cardiovascular and inflammatory disorders. In addition, Dr Topper led Frazier Healthcare's investment in Cotherix (Nasdaq CTRX) which was acquired by Actelion for $420M. Dr. Topper currently serves on the boards of Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Amicus Therapeutics (Nasdaq FOLD), Arête Therapeutics, Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Intradigm Corporation, and Anaptys Biosciences.
Prior to joining Frazier Healthcare, he served as head of the cardiovascular research and development franchise at Millennium Pharmaceuticals and ran Millennium San Francisco (formerly COR Therapeutics). Prior to the merger of COR and Millennium, Dr. Topper served as the Vice President of Biology at COR and was responsible for managing all of its research activities. He served on the faculties of Stanford Medical School and Harvard Medical School prior to joining COR, where he functioned as a clinician, instructor and basic investigator.
Dr. Topper received his M.D. and Ph.D. (in Biophysics) from Stanford University School of Medicine in 1991 under the auspices of the Medical Scientist Training Program. He completed his postgraduate training in Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Disease at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and is board certified in both disciplines. After completing a research fellowship in the Vascular Research Division in the department of Pathology at the Brigham and Women's hospital, he joined the faculty of Harvard Medical School from 1997 to 1998, and subsequently Stanford University as an Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular) in July 1998. He has authored over 50 publications and was the recipient of a Howard Hughes Scholars Award while on the faculty at Stanford University. He continues to hold an appointment as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Stanford University and as a Cardiology Consultant to the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital.
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