Genentech: Lee Honigberg | Senior Director and Principal Scientist, OMNI Biomarker Development

Scientists / Our Scientists

"Genentech is a great place to do drug development – we test novel therapeutics for serious diseases and take an integrated approach to clinical development that is driven by a strong commitment to scientific integrity."

Years at Genentech

Publications

I did my PhD in Neuroscience at UCSF and then started at a small company using C. elegans to discover new drug targets for neuropathic pain. That company was subsequently acquired by Celera Genomics where I continued to work in drug discovery across several therapeutic areas. After Celera, I moved further toward the clinic, leading the preclinical and biomarker development for a Btk inhibitor at Pharmacyclics. I joined Genentech in 2009 to return to Neuroscience and focus on biomarkers.

Featured Publication

Identification of longitudinally dynamic biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease cerebrospinal fluid by targeted proteomics

Mol Neurodegener. 2014; 9: 22. Published online 2014 Jun 6.

Wildsmith KR, Schauer SP, Smith AM, Arnott D, Zhu Y, Haznedar J, Kaur S, Mathews WR, Honigberg LA.

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For me, biomarkers are at the sweet spot between research and the clinic. We use genetic, protein, and imaging biomarkers to better understand disease subsets, patterns of disease progression and the effects of novel therapeutics. My group focuses on Neuroscience (Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases) and Ophthalmology (primarily advanced age-related macular degeneration). Part of the job is pure research – discovering new biomarkers and figuring out better ways to measure biomarkers in clinical trials. And part of the job can be very pragmatic – working with global teams to incorporate biomarkers into clinical trials to help us find the right patients and the right dose for a given therapeutic. The most exciting part of the job is when the biomarker data comes in from a clinical trial and we learn more about the disease and the drug and then apply that to the next clinical trial.

Development of a therapeutic anti-HtrA1 antibody and the identification of DKK3 as a pharmacodynamic biomarker in geographic atrophy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN: 10916490 00278424

Irene Tom; Victoria Pham; Ken Katschke; Wei Li; Wei-Ching Liang; Johnny Gutierrez; Andrew Ah Young; Isabel Figueroa; Shadi Toghi Eshghi; Ching Wei V. Lee; Jitendra Kanodia; Scott J. Snipas; Guy S. Salvesen; Phillip Lai; Lee Honigberg; Menno van Lookeren Campagne; Daniel Kirchhofer; Amos Baruch; Jennie Lill

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Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic effect of crenezumab on plasma and cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, ISSN: 17589193

Yoshida; Anita Moein; Tobias Bittner; Ostrowitzki; Helen Lin; Lee Honigberg; Jin Y. Jin; Angelica Quartino

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Preanalytical approaches to improve recovery of amyloid-β peptides from CSF as measured by immunological or mass spectrometry-based assays

Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, ISSN: 17589193

Stephen Schauer; William R. Mylott; Moucun Yuan; Rand Jenkins; Rodney Mathews; Lee Honigberg; Kristin Wildsmith

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Amyloid positron emission tomography and cerebrospinal fluid results from a crenezumab anti-amyloid-beta antibody double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized phase II study in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease (BLAZE)

Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, ISSN: 17589193

Stephen Salloway; Lee Honigberg; William Cho; Michael Ward; Michel Friesenhahn; Flavia Brunstein; Angelica Quartino; David Clayton; Deborah L. Mortensen; Tobias Bittner; Carole Ho; Christina Rabe; Stephen Schauer; Kristin Wildsmith; Reina Fuji; Shehnaaz Suliman; Eric M. Reiman; Kewei Chen; Robert Paul

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Efficacy and safety of lampalizumab for geographic atrophy due to age-related macular degeneration: Chroma and spectri phase 3 randomized clinical trials

JAMA Ophthalmology, ISSN: 21686165

Frank G. Holz; Srinivas R. Sadda; Brandon G. Busbee; Emily Y. Chew; Paul Mitchell; Adnan Tufail; Christopher Brittain; Daniela Ferrara; Sarah Gray; Lee Honigberg; Jillian Martin; Barbara Tong; Jason Ehrlich; Neil M. Bressler

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A phase 2 randomized trial of crenezumab in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease

Neurology, ISSN: 1526632X 00283878

Jeffrey L. Cummings; Sharon Cohen; Christopher H. Van Dyck; Mark Brody; Craig Curtis; William Cho; Michael Ward; Michel Friesenhahn; Flavia Brunstein; Angelica Quartino; Lee Honigberg; Reina Fuji; David Clayton; Deborah L. Mortensen; Carole Ho; Robert Paul; Christina Rabe

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Elevated IgE M1 prime transcripts in nasal tissues in patients with nasal polyps and asthma

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, ISSN: 00916749

Heleen Scheerens; Ashley Smith; Olga Li; Lee Honigberg; Jeff Harris; Gabriële Holtappels; Claus Bachert

The Alzheimer's Prevention Initiative Autosomal-Dominant Alzheimer's Disease Trial: A study of crenezumab versus placebo in preclinical PSEN1 E280A mutation carriers to evaluate efficacy and safety in the treatment of autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease, including a placebo-treated noncarrier cohort

Alzheimer's and Dementia: Translational Research and Clinical Interventions, ISSN: 23528737

Pierre N. Tariot; Francisco Lopera; Jessica B. Langbaum; Ronald G. Thomas; Suzanne Hendrix; Lon S. Schneider; Silvia Rios-Romenets; Margarita Giraldo; Natalia Acosta; Carlos Tobon; Claudia Ramos; Alejandro Espinosa; William Cho; Michael Ward; David Clayton; Michel Friesenhahn; Howard Mackey; Lee Honigberg; Sandra Sanabria; Kewei Chen; Trisha Walsh; Carolyn Langlois; Eric M. Reiman

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Targeting factor D of the alternative complement pathway reduces geographic atrophy progression secondary to age-related macular degeneration

Science Translational Medicine, ISSN: 19466234

Brian Yaspan; David F. Williams; Frank G. Holz; Carl D. Regillo; Zhengrong Li; Amy Dressen; Menno van Lookeren Campagne; Kha Le; Robert R. Graham; Tatiana Beres; Tushar Bhangale; Lee Honigberg; Ashley Smith; Erin Henry; Carole Ho; Erich Strauss

Development and evaluation of a multiplexed mass spectrometry based assay for measuring candidate peptide biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) CSF

Proteomics - Clinical Applications, ISSN: 18628354

Spellman; Kristin Wildsmith; Lee Honigberg; Marianne Tuefferd; David Baker; Nandini Raghavan; Angus C. Nairn; Pascal Croteau; Michael Schirm; René Allard; Julie Lamontagne; Daniel Chelsky; Steven Hoffmann; William Z. Potter

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Effect of selective LRRK2 kinase inhibition on nonhuman primate lung

Science Translational Medicine, ISSN: 19466242

Reina Fuji; Mike Flagella; Miriam Baca; Marco A. S Baptista; Jens Brodbeck; Bryan Chan; Brian K. Fiske; Lee Honigberg; Adrian Jubb; Paula Katavolos; Donna Lee; Sock-Cheng Lewin-Koh; Tori Lin; Xingrong Liu; Shannon Liu; Joe Lyssikatos; Jennifer O'Mahony; Mike Reichelt; Meron Roose-Girma; Zejuan Sheng; Todd Sherer; Ashley Smith; Margaret Solon; Zach Sweeney; Jacqueline Tarrant; Alison Urkowitz; Soren Warming; Murat Yaylaoglu; Shuo Zhang; Haitao Zhu; Tony Estrada; Ryan Watts

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Identification of longitudinally dynamic biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease cerebrospinal fluid by targeted proteomics

Molecular Neurodegeneration, ISSN: 17501326

Kristin Wildsmith; Stephen Schauer; Ashley Smith; David Arnott; Yuda Zhu; Joshua Haznedar; Surinder Kaur; W Rodney Mathews; Lee Honigberg

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Functional studies on the IBD susceptibility gene IL23R implicate reduced receptor function in the protective genetic variant R381Q

PLoS ONE, ISSN: 19326203

Svetlana Pidasheva; Sara Trifari; Anne Phillips; Jason Hackney; Yan Ma; Ashley Smith; Sue Sohn; Hergen Spits; Randall D. Little; Tim Behrens; Lee Honigberg; Nico Ghilardi; Hilary Clark

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The Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor PCI-32765 blocks B-cell activation and is efficacious in models of autoimmune disease and B-cell malignancy

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, ISSN: 00278424

Lee Honigberg; Ashley Smith; Mint Sirisawad; Erik Verner; David Loury; Betty Chang; Shyr Li; Zhengying Pan; Douglas H. Thamm; Richard A. Miller; Joseph J. Buggy

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UC San Francisco, PhD in Neuroscience – 1998
Dartmouth College, AB in Computer Science – 1989

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Lee Honigberg

Senior Director and Principal Scientist, OMNI Biomarker Development

Featured Publication

Identification of longitudinally dynamic biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease cerebrospinal fluid by targeted proteomics