Pain, Cancer, Diabetes, Hepatitis C and Lupus Among the Growth Focus Topics for BIO InvestorForum Panel Discussions
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 12, 2005) – Therapeutic workshops slated for the BIO InvestorForum will feature a cross-section of experts in disease areas poised for growth in research and financing across the biotechnology sector, as reported by a special advisory board of industry thought leaders.
BIO InvestorForum 2005 will take place at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, Oct. 18-20. The conference will be hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), Bank of America and Lehman Brothers and co-hosted by CIBC World Markets, Jefferies and RBC Capital Markets.
In addition to companies, clinical developments and research trends, the highlighted disease areas are expected to comprise the “Growth Watch List” for 2006 and beyond. Therapeutic areas of interest will include diabetes, hepatitis C, pain, lupus, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Panel discussions will focus on clinical strategies, product development and shifting regulatory landscapes.
Session topics this year include, “Developing New Pain Therapeutics in the Post-Vioxx World.” This session will focus on safety and risk management issues surrounding analgesics, and how these issues will impact the future of drug development and commercialization in the wake of the Vioxx withdrawal. Panelists will answer the questions “What lessons have we learned about trial design?” and “What challenges must a company now be prepared to face when going to the FDA with a novel pain product?”
The pain therapeutics panel runs 8:15-9:15 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 20. At the same time, another panel will discuss new approaches to treating lupus by reigning in antibody-producing B-cells with drugs that deplete or modulate B-cells. The panel is titled, “New Insights and New Therapeutic Hope for Lupus: Focusing on B Cells.”
And because cancer strikes millions of people worldwide, this year’s InvestorForum organizers have pulled together a continuum of sessions focused on cancer research and regulatory trends. The sessions include:
· “Cancer Genome Project, Part I: Implications for Sequencing Technology;”
· “The New Cancer Agents: Translating Promise into the Clinic;”
· “Clinical Development and Regulatory Trends in the Era of Targeted Cancer Therapies.”
A list of panel members for all workshops and roundtables can be found by clicking on http://investorforum.bio.org/opencms/bif/2005/index.jsp.
Advance registration for freelance media closes at 5 p.m. EST Wednesday, Oct. 12. Media registration is complimentary and can be completed in advance by clicking on the website listed above.
Other sponsors of the event include Aeterna Zentaris, Amgen, Biogen Idec, BioWorld Today, Cooley Godward, Dorsey & Whitney, Ernst & Young, Ferskos, Fulcrum Pharma Developments, Heller Ehrman, Knight Capital Group, Latham & Watkins, Merck, Pfizer, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, PR Newswire, VWR International, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati with the support of BayBio, BIOCOM and BIOTECanada.
A list of advisory board members can also be found on BIO’s website.
BIO represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations in all 50 U.S. states and 33 other nations. BIO members are involved in the research and development of health-care, agricultural, industrial and environmental biotechnology products.
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