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Success of SCIpharm owed to tried and tested formula

SCIpharm, SCI’s biennial pharmaceutical conference and exhibition, returned again to Edinburgh on 14–17 May 2006. Attracting a similar number of visitors as the first event in 2004, some 500 delegates and 41 exhibitors from 38 countries represented all sectors within the pharmaceutical industry and its service suppliers, from contract research companies to specialised equipment suppliers.

Organised ‘by the industry for the industry’ as Graham Dixon, chairman of the organising committee emphasises, SCIpharm is a flagship event which examines the key issues facing the pharma industry, combining learning and networking in one cost-effective format. A world-class line-up of speakers was supported by a commercial exhibition in an event that is the result of collaboration between special interest groups within SCI.

For 2006, as a result of visitor feedback from the first event in 2004, the multi-track formula, based on three science-based tracks focused on R&D and a fourth integrated look at business aspects of industry, including strategic R&D, intellectual property and outsourcing, was enhanced by an even bigger poster session, with almost 50 exhibits; a full day dedicated to the business aspects of the industry; and a new software-supported business meeting service.

As part of the plenary programme, on the day that pharma major AstraZeneca unveiled its acquisition of Cambridge Antibody Technology, development director John Patterson told delegates in his plenary address at SCIpharm 2006 that big pharma companies must evolve to survive the changes that are sweeping through the pharmaceutical industry or go the way of the dinosaurs. Companies must become more flexible and adaptive to get medicines to patients faster.

In terms of the technologies that might help achieve this target of patient care, in the opening plenary presentation, David Nicholson, executive vice president, R&D, at Organon said in his plenary address that while genomics has not delivered its original promises, including personalised medicines and easier and more efficient R&D processes, it has made R&D much better.

Safer medicines
In his plenary address, Sir Colin Dollery, GSK, examined the calls for safer medicines and current responses, including his views on the recent problems with the Tegenero trial. He emphasised that the efficacy of a medicine and its safety are now given equal emphasis by the industry but disease severity and alternative treatments must also be considered.

Tim Wells, Serono International, noted that biotech medicines have been described as proteins looking for diseases. However, with increased knowledge of the genetics of diseases and patients, these treatments hold great promise.

In the final plenary session, speaking by telephone, Karol Sikora, Imperial College, traced the development of biomarkers and suggested that they can play a major role in reducing the costs of drug development and reduce risks for the industry as a whole.

In tracing pharmaceutical development, the first session was devoted to ‘Gene to screen’, with Hepatitis C being presented as a paradigm for drug discovery, with insights into the screening and optimisation of biological pharmaceuticals, and the use of novel assays to support screening and optimisation. In the ‘Screen to candidate session’, lead identification strategies were examined, particularly the use of new technological and predictive tools designed to shorten optimisation times and improve lead quality. The influence of regulatory initiatives and the predictive value of pre-clinical studies were examined in the ‘Candidate to drug’, together with advances in translational medicine and the role and use of biomarkers.

The ‘Where science meets business’ session ranged from new approaches to R&D manage-ment, through intellectual property issues, and the outsourcing of R&D, to finish with a look at strategic issues within the pharma sector.

The success of SCIpharm 2006 has encouraged plans for the next event in 2008 which is expected to be held in a European venue outside the UK for the first time and will be designed to become the premier European pharmaceutical conference and exhibition by making it accessible to all layers of management and researchers within the industry.