DIA To Host Europe's First - Ever Clinical Forum

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist
Article Date: 10 Oct 2007 - 13:00 PDT

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The Drug Information Association (DIA) will hold its inaugural Clinical Forum (October 15-19; Madrid, Spain). The event will feature not only some of DIA's most popular annual events but also several new conferences, workshops, and training courses.

Attendees can attend events that touch on all areas of drug development, including Clinical Data Management, eClinical, Clinical R&D, Project Management for Clinical Trials, Pharmacovigilance, Statistics, Knowledge Management, Medical Writing, Medical Information and Communications, Information Technology and Innovative Medicines.

"The forum has an innovative structure that enables delegates to build their own conference," explains Barry Burnstead, Director of Standards, i3 Global, United Kingdom and 2007 Clinical Forum Chair. "Regardless of their discipline, attendees can choose from any of the forum's conferences, workshops, and training courses."

This structure, along with the forum's broad coverage of the clinical arena, encourages collaboration among clinical departments. Events include:

- Multi-track Conference: The Power of the Clinical Team

- International Workshop on Statistical Methodology in Clinical R&D

- Medical Information and Communications

- Global Trends in Medical Writing and the Evolving Regulatory Environment

- Leveraging Knowledge Management: Product Cross-licensing, Product Liability and Pharmacovigilance

- Safety Data Management

- Optimising Clinical Trial Design and Management

- Operational Interfaces - From Study Planning to Report

- Joint ESAME/DIA Workshop on Innovative Medicines (In Spanish)

- Effective Project Management for Clinical Trials

- Drugs in Pregnancy: From Data to Risk Communication

The Clinical Forum's emphasis on eClinical reflects the resurgence in the use of electronic data capture (EDC) and other technology in clinical research.

"Despite the potential of many technologies to reduce risk to patients, many delegates will come to the forum with concerns about related regulatory compliance challenges," says Burnstead. "The forum will explore how pharma can mitigate some of these challenges."

In addition to representatives from the EMEA, national regulatory agencies throughout Europe and the US FDA, the Clinical Forum will feature a keynote address by Professor Sir Gordon Duff, Chairman of the UK Commission on Human Medicines (CHM). In 2006, Sir Gordon was appointed chairman of the secretary of state's Expert Scientific Group on Phase I clinical trials and led an enquiry into the Northwick Park TGN1412 clinical trial that left six men seriously ill. His subsequent report contained 22 recommendations to increase safety in clinical studies.

About the Drug Information Association (DIA)

The Drug Information Association serves more than 18,000 professionals in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and regulatory industries worldwide. Through its domestic and international meetings, training courses, workshops and webinars, DIA provides a neutral global forum for the exchange of information critical to the advancement of the drug discovery and lifecycle management processes. Headquartered in Horsham, Pa., USA, and with offices in Basel, Switzerland and Tokyo, Japan, the Association is led by its volunteer-based board of directors and executive management team.

http://www.diahome.org

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