Roche Brings Together Asia's Leading Academic Researchers In Drug Delivery Symposium

Main Category: Conferences
Also Included In: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 26 Dec 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Roche brought together more than 70 leading experts from research institutes and universities across Asia at its second Drug Delivery Symposium held in Shanghai, China early in December.

The invited academics were selected for their leading-edge, innovative research that could contribute to solving numerous challenges in delivering drugs ranging from existing small molecules to future siRNA therapeutics.

Speakers from mainland China, Taiwan, Korea and Singapore described a wide range of different approaches to drug delivery, providing a critical insight to the pioneering research that is being carried out in the region. The event aimed to boost Roche's efforts in forging research alliances across Asia, following on from the opening in November of the company's Pharma Partnering Office in Shanghai.

Frank Grams, Business Development Director, Roche Pharma Partnering Asia, told delegates: "It is important for us to form direct relationships with academics, understand the latest research and pinpoint potential partners in Asia, particularly in drug delivery. Last year saw China becoming the number one in drug delivery patent output, demonstrating the growing stature of the region's science in this field. We are committed to supporting that science base through collaborations to develop breakthrough medicines for the benefit of patients around the world."

Delegates welcomed the opportunity to meet their peers from across Asia and to gain an understanding of Roche's research objectives and requirements in drug delivery. "It is putting the spotlight on Asia and showing the skills, and more importantly the science, is here," said Zhiyuan Zhong of the Biomedical Polymers Laboratory at Soochow University in Suzhou, China.

Qineng Ping, Professor of Pharmaceutics, China Pharmaceutical University agreed. "It's good to have the specialist focus on drug delivery. In terms of cooperation with industry, we are at the beginning of the process and from an academic point of view it is useful to get inputs from companies."

Professor Tae Gwan Park from Korea's Advanced Institute of Science and Technology said: "I very much valued the high quality scientific content and focused themes of this event. It is clear that this has been the start of many more discussions."

Roche established its Pharma Partnering Asia Office in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in November 2008. The office is responsible for partnerships in mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore. Roche is currently working with three Chinese universities to develop novel drug delivery techniques and is actively looking for biotech partners.

The Pharma Partnering Office sits alongside Roche's China R&D, Pharmaceutical Development Center and manufacturing facility. The investment in research, development, production, marketing and partnering in China gives Roche fully integrated capabilities in the country, and underlines the company's commitment to discover and develop innovative medicines in China.

About Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world's biggest biotech company and an innovator of products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of the central nervous system. In 2007 sales by the Pharmaceuticals Division totalled 36.8 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 9.3 billion francs. Roche has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai, and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D in 2007. Worldwide the Group employs about 80,000 people. Additional information is available on the Internet at http://www.roche.com.

Source:
Peter Sandbach
Roche