BETHESDA, Md., April 15—C. Anthony Altar, Ph.D., has joined the staff of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health as director of The Biomarkers Consortium. The Biomarkers Consortium is a large-scale, public-private biomedical research partnership formed to identify and qualify new, quantitative measures or characteristics — biological markers (“biomarkers”) — for use by biomedical researchers, regulators, and health care providers.

Previous positions held by Dr. Altar include president and chief scientific officer, Psychiatric Genomics, Inc, where he worked from 2001 to 2006; director of global neuroscience research, Otsuka America Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1998 to 2001; senior staff scientist, neurobiology, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 1991 to 1998; and before that, scientist, developmental biology, Genentech, Inc. Dr. Altar’s teams participated in the research and development of the antipsychotic drug aripiprazole (Abilify), which received FDA approval in 2002. He has over 120 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Altar received his Ph.D. (Honors) in psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and holds a B.S. (Honors) in psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Biomarkers Consortium is managed and administered by the Foundation for NIH in partnership with a variety of public and private stakeholders, including: the National Institutes of Health; the Food and Drug Administration; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; and the Biotechnology Industry Organization; leading companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, and medical device industries, together with non-profit organizations and associations; and advocacy groups. Initial areas of therapeutic focus for the consortium are neuroscience, metabolic disorders, and cancer.

The overall aim of The Biomarkers Consortium is to accelerate delivery of technologies, medicines, and therapies for successful prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. The identification of biomarkers is an essential element for the new era now within sight of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine in which the accuracy of individualized, personalized health assessments will exceed those of today. Biomarkers will accelerate basic and translational research and the development of safe and effective medicines and treatments for a wide range of diseases and help guide clinical practice. The Biomarkers Consortium will harmonize approaches to identifying viable biomarkers, verify their individual value, and formalize their use in research and regulatory approval.

For more detailed information visit The Biomarkers Consortium.

The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health was established by the United States Congress to support the mission of the National Institutes of Health – improving health through scientific discovery. The Foundation identifies and develops opportunities for innovative public-private partnerships involving industry, academia, and the philanthropic community. A non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation the Foundation raises private-sector funds for a broad portfolio of unique programs that complement and enhance NIH priorities and activities.

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