Leveraging a Global Network of Colleagues to Drive Cutting Edge PK-ADME Science | Dr. David Rodrigues

As a pharmaceutical company, Pfizer has a long-standing tradition of executing quality translational PK-ADME (Pharmacokinetics-Absorption-Distribution-Metabolism-Excretion) science in support of its portfolio. In recent years, this has extended to the development and deployment of solute carrier (SLC) biomarkers and plasma (serum)-derived tissue specific small extracellular vesicles (sEV) as liquid biopsy. Such advances have been possible because Pfizer’s Medicine Design organization (PDM & ADME Sciences) is well staffed with PK-ADME experts (e.g., bioanalytical, enzymology, transporters, modeling & simulations) and because of effective partnerships with colleagues in the Precision Medicine Group and Clinical Pharmacology. Beyond its internal network, Pfizer has also supported funded research collaborations with esteemed academic colleagues across the globe. The presentation will highlight three such collaborations. 

The first example involves Dr. Andrew Rowland, and his lab at Flinders University (Adelaide, SA Australia, Australia), and focuses on ADME proteomics of blood-derived sEV as liquid biopsy to support induction assessment, subject phenotyping and tissue expression profiling. The second example showcases exploratory plasma-based biomarkers for liver organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATP1B1/3) and urine-based biomarkers for organic cation transporters (OCT2, MATEs) in collaboration with Prof. Hiroyuki Kusuhara and his lab (Tokyo University, Tokyo, Japan) and Prof. Yuichi Sugiyama (while at the Riken Institute). Specially, Pfizer funded two clinical studies at the P-One clinic (Tokyo) that enabled the assessment of SLC inhibition by a perpetrator at 3 dose levels (OATP, rifampicin; OCT2/MATE, pyrimethamine). The biomarker project extended to a collaboration with Dr. Mikko Niemi, and his lab at the University of Helsinki and HUS Diagnostic Center, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki (Finland), involving the investigation of plasma glycochenodeoxycholic acid 3-O-glucuronide (GCDCA-3G) as a novel OATP1B1 (SLCO1B1) phenotyping tool. Finally, Pfizer’s collaboration with Dr. Colin Brown and his lab at Newcells Biotech (Newcastle, England), and Dr. Jashvant Unadkat and his lab (University of Washington, Seattle, USA), is highlighted. In this instance, it was possible to leverage freshly isolated multi-subject human primary renal proximal tubule epithelial cells to investigate the active uptake of creatinine by organic anion transporter 2 (OAT2) versus OCT2. 

“Your career and its success is not all about you, but its largely how you work with and serve others, how you make them feel about themselves, as well as the value that you bring to others in the organization you are part of.”
David Rodrigues, September 16th, 2020 (Washington State University, Student Engagement Webinar). 

Speaker Bio

David Rodrigues, Ph.D., has been in the pharmaceutical industry for 31 years and currently holds the title of Senior Scientific Director as head of the Transporter Sciences Group at Pfizer (Groton, CT, USA). Before joining Pfizer in 2014, he spent productive periods at other US-based pharmaceutical companies (Searle, Abbott Labs, Merck, and Bristol-Myers Squibb). During that time, he served on both scientific and managerial ladders. He has authored 176 peer-reviewed manuscripts, presented >80 seminars, and in the past served on the editorial boards of various DMPK-related journals (Xenobiotica, Drug Metabolism & Disposition, Current Drug Metabolism). In addition, he has edited/co-edited four DMPK-related textbooks. Presently, he serves as adjunct professor at the College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, and is a member of the International Transporter Consortium (ITC). In 2009, David was inducted as Fellow of The American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). He is the recipient of the 2021 Distinguished Accomplishments in Drug Discovery & Development Award bestowed by the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics (ISSX).