Genentech: Marcel Hop | Vice President, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Drug Discovery

Scientists / Our Scientists

"Many of us have relatives affected by debilitating and sometimes terminal diseases. It is hard to top the personal satisfaction that comes from knowing that we are working to improve and extend the lives of patients."

Years at Genentech

Publications at Genentech

I joined Genentech in 2007 and am the Vice President of the Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics department. The mission of the DMPK department is to enable project advancement as an integral partner by identifying and developing compounds with superior ADME properties using state-of-the-art methodologies. We provide high quality data using state-of-the-art methodologies to impact projects from pre-ESR to NDA by understanding the ADME behavior of small molecule therapeutics and antibody-drug conjugates. We collaborate effectively with many colleagues in the development of safe and efficacious life-changing therapeutics for patients with a sense of urgency. Finally, we value our employees and foster everyone’s scientific as well as professional growth. We accomplish this through extensive drug metabolism and disposition expertise, application of state-of-the-art technologies, advanced computational tools, the latest bioanalytical instruments, innovative thinking, effective collaboration and teamwork.

Drug discovery and development continues to be extremely challenging and success is only achievable by integrating the contributions from excellent scientists here at Genentech. Having everyone on one campus in South San Francisco is ideal, because you can simply walk over and discuss the latest data and next steps. At the same time, we value external collaborations to complement our capabilities and stay up-to-date with all recent advances.

Genentech's strength lies in its deep knowledge of the biology as it relates to oncology, immunology, CNS disorders and bacterial infections. ADME sciences continue to evolve and we have great opportunities to apply the latest science to identify molecules that are ideal candidates for clinical testing. It is critically important to emphasize continuous learning and advancement – talk to and listen to colleagues, read the literature diligently and attend relevant conferences. We have to keep our skills sharp, process everything and apply the best approaches to our projects to have maximum impact on patient lives.

Featured Publication

Rational Use of Plasma Protein and Tissue Binding Data in Drug Design

Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2014, ISSN: 0022-2623

Liu, Xingrong; Wright, Matthew; Hop, Cornelis E C A.

View Abstract on PubMed

Genentech's strength lies in its deep knowledge of the biology as it relates to oncology, immunology, CNS disorders and bacterial infections. Our goal is to contribute to small molecule and antibody-drug conjugate drug discovery and development to make it as successful as Genentech's many biological drugs. Indeed, our department has made critical contributions to the development and subsequent launch of vismodegib, cobimetinib, venetoclax, pirfenidone, polatuzumab vedotin and others in the last few years.

ADME sciences continue to evolve and we have great opportunities to apply the latest science to identify molecules that are ideal candidates for clinical testing.

It is critically important to emphasize continuous learning and advancement – talk to and listen to colleagues, read the literature diligently and attend relevant conferences. We have to keep our skills sharp, process everything and apply the best approaches to our projects.

Tissue distribution and retention drives efficacy of rapidly clearing VHL-based PROTACs

Communications Medicine,

Donglu Zhang; Bin Ma; Peter Dragovich; Li Ma; Shu Chen; Eugene C. Chen; Ye; Joyce F. Liu; Jennifer Pizzano; Elizabeth Bortolon; Emily Chan; Xing Zhang; Yi-Chen Chen; Elizabeth S. Levy; Robert Yauch; S. Cyrus Khojasteh; Cornelis E. Hop

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Marcel Hop

Vice President, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, Drug Discovery

Featured Publication

Rational Use of Plasma Protein and Tissue Binding Data in Drug Design