Visiongain Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Conferences and Events

Immunogenicity is a significant area of discussion in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry with new strategies and practices being developed, also it is a primary safety concern for regulators.

Despite spiralling R&D costs, 90% of lead candidates identified by current in vitro systems fail to become drugs. Complications including cardiac, neural and hepato-toxicity remain significant challenges, frequently undetected in animal and pre-clinical testing.

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies are looking for new ways to increase the efficiency of drug discovery process while minimising costs and time for approvals. Biomarkers are fast becoming an essential part of clinical development from discovery to approval. According to industry research, the global biomarker market is estimated to be $20.5 billion by 2014, growing at a CAGR of 19.7%.

CNS is one of the largest and fastest growing therapeutic areas of the pharmaceutical market. The ageing of the baby-boom generation combined with new and emerging treatments for neurodegenerative disorders, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, will lead to further expansion of the neurodegenerative therapies market.

Pharmaceutical packaging and labelling is considered an essential aspect of the product. The role of packaging and labelling has increased considerably and constantly advancing over the last few decades. This area has been experiencing emerging regulatory issues and stringent restraints.

During the period 2008-2013, the most important development in influenza vaccines, will be the diversification of influenza manufacturing. New cell-based technologies will be used, and eventually replace, existing egg-based manufacturing methods. Many cell-culture vaccines are being developed under grants from the US government.

Pharmacovigilance is timely, vital and here to stay. It is becoming ever more important for pharmaceutical companies as the public and legislative pressure to ensure drug safety increases every day. Visiongain's 5th Annual Pharmacovigilance conference will be an eye opener to many different elements including the regulatory and legislative framework, risk management, PSUR, live licensing, in drug safety and surveillance.

The respiratory disorder market is highly competitive and brings in high revenues. The principal drivers are the increase in disease prevalence and the high economic cost of these diseases. With an increasing patient population and high-profile disorders, this market will continue to grow in the foreseeable future.

Without lyophilisation, nearly 60% of biopharmaceuticals including plasma, vaccines and antibodies could not be commercially available. With a greater trend to outsource manufacturing and more of biologicals requiring freeze-drying, this $1.5bn market is set to maintain its year-on-year double digit growth.

Advances in recombinant antibodies have impact on a range of therapy areas, such as oncology, CNS, infectious and inflammatory diseases. With an expert line-up of speakers, Visiongain's 3rd Annual Recombinant Antibodies Conference is an ideal forum for industry and academia alike. This 2-day event will explore novel applications of antibodies, recent advances in antibody engineering and the latest clinical developments.

Pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies are under severe pressure to improve product pipelines, accelerate time to market, and improve margins on existing product, while maintaining strict adherence to quality principles and regulatory requirements. It is imperative that pharmaceutical and biotech companies address these business challenges to stay competitive, increase revenue, enhance profit, and reduce the risk of noncompliance.

Biologics constitutes a major share of expenditure in the USA and globally. It is one of the fastest growing sectors of the pharmaceutical industry which corresponds to over 15% of the total pharmaceutical market. There is a large and potentially lucrative demand for lower cost biological drugs worldwide. With favourable regulatory developments, the biosimilar sector should pick up significantly, however, forming an important developing pharma market.

Biobanking is changing rapidly. Biobanks are playing a vital role in the today's research and development in the fields of drug discovery and bioscience. The biobanking sector is expanding at a tremendous rate in recent years and has also been facing many legal, financial, ethical, scientific challenges.

Smoking cessation is among the most dynamic markets within the pharma, biotech and healthcare sector, and expected to grow despite the current economic times. According to visiongain's Smoking Cessation 2009-2024 report, the evolution of NRTs - including neuroreceptor modulators, enzyme inhibitors and therapeutic vaccines - will push worldwide sales of smoking cessation drugs to $1.5 billion by 2010, with majority of revenues coming from the NRTs.

21st - 22nd January 2010, BSG House, London, UK

Drug delivery continues to be increasingly important sector in the pharmaceutical industry and has undergone rapid growth in the last few years. Drug delivery technologies are driving growth of pharmaceutical companies and boosting their revenue by extending the product profitable lifecycle through new formulations, combinations and repositioning. The predominant focus of this conference will be in advancements being made in the drug delivery technologies and understanding the regulatory and legal issues faced by the them.