SCIpharm is organised 'by the industry for the industry' as Graham Dixon, chairman of the SCIpharm organising committee emphasises.
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 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.
SCIpharm is organised 'by the industry for the industry' as Graham Dixon, chairman of the SCIpharm organising committee emphasises.
It is a flagship event serving the pharma industry looking at the key issues facing the industry; combining learning and networking in one cost effective format.
A world class line up of speakers is supported by a commercial exhibition in an event that is the result of collaboration between special interest groups within the Society of Chemical Industry.
For 2006, as a result of visitor feedback from the first event in 2004, the multi-track formula of 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, has been enhanced by a bigger poster session.
With almost 50 exhibits; a full plenary day dedicated to the business aspects of the industry and a new software-supported business meeting service.
In tracing pharmaceutical development, the first session devoted to 'Gene to screen', Hepatitis C is presented as a paradigm for drug discovery, while an insight has been presented into the screening and optimisation of biological pharmaceuticals - large molecules in a small molecular world; while the use of novel assays to support screening and optimisation was examined.
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 va lue of pre-clinical studies was examined in the candidate to drug session, together with advances in translational medicine and the role and use of biomarkers.
The success of SCIpharm 2006 has encouraged plans for the next event in 2008, which is planned 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.
Exhibition news.
Poster award winners for SCIpharm 2006 include:.
Mahmood Ahmed from GlaxoSmithKline, UK.
Joint award to Marion Darnaud and Gwenola Sabatte both from the University of Strathclyde.
Simon Everitt of Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe).
The prizes for the poster awards were sponsored by SCI, Drug Discovery Today, Organon and Synovo.
Networking lunch:.
'Perspectives for investment in the life sciences in 2006': Scottish Enterprise sponsored the networking lunch targeted at Scottish and international biotech companies and the investment community.
Scottish Enterprise.
SCIpharm 2006 hosted some 41 exhibitors and suppliers to the international R+D market.
The exhibition showcased the entire spectrum of suppliers and services for life science R+D, from laboratory robotics to manufacturing outsourcing.
New for 2006 was the opportunity to visit the exhibition for the day and a full programme of events included 15 product demonstrations, two workshops, streaming of the plenary lectures and an expanded poster session.
Other exhibitor news includes:.
Cellexus Biosystems exclusively previewed its first product, the CellMaker Lite at SCIpharm.
The CellMaker Lite is the first of a number of versions of the company's disposable bioreactor technology.
The CellMaker Lite system is unique in the way that it grows cells in a disposable bag (the CellexusBag) because it does not shake, stir, rock or roll the culture like other bioreactors.
Fulcrum Scientific, the European agent for a growing number of niche suppliers of intermediates and synthesis services, presented its current range of products and services at SCIpharm.
"Our suppliers are all carefully selected; we particularly seek out those with the hallmarks of creativity, attention to detail and an unerring dedication to the needs of their target customers," said Mike Durrant.
Watson-Marlow Bredel exhibited its comprehensive range of peristaltic pumps for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications.
The range of pumps can handle volumes from microlitres per second to 80 thousand litres per hour, and which meet the stringent demands of these industries, covering all requirements from research through scale-up to full production.
Asynt launched the new DrySyn Junior at SCIpharm 2006, the latest addition to its range of DrySyn products.
This modular family of products developed for small scale, single and multiple parallel reactions, now feature this small inexpensive, single position model.
Visitors to SCIpharm experienced live demonstrations of Caliper Life Sciences's new Sciclone i1000 high volume liquid handling workstation.
Alongside the new system was Caliper's LabChip 3000 microfluidic screening and LabChip 90 automated electrophoresis systems.
Additionally, with the recent acquisition of NovaScreen Biosciences, Caliper now combines established profiling and assay development services with proven LabChip and advanced liquid handling products to offer a central resource for drug discovery.
Scottish Enterprise, a sponsor of SCIpharm, turned the spotlight on two projects with an international focus.
It called for more Scottish companies to sign up for the European Passport Project.
This network of more than 700 European life science companies specializes in linking companies with commercial opportunities and also provides access to potential funding opportunities and highlighted potential opportunities at the new Centre for Biomedical Research.
