The closing keynote plenary lecture at the Institute of Clinical Research's (ICR) 30th Spring Conference and Exhibition will be from director in advisory practice and clinical research, Kate Moss.
'Pharma 2020: Virtual R+D - which path will you take?' is the second in a series of papers published by Pricewaterhousecoopers (PWC) exploring the future of the pharmaceutical industry.
Published in June 2007, the paper highlighted a number of issues that will have a major bearing on the industry over the next 13 years and outlined the changes PWC believes will best help pharmaceutical companies realise the potential the future holds and enhance the value they provide to shareholders and society.
This presentation explores the opportunities to improve the research and development (RandD) process to understand how new technologies will enable the adoption of virtual RandD; and how by operating in a more connected world, the industry in collaboration with researchers, governments, health care payers and providers, can effectively address the changing needs of society.
'I will be discussing how, by implementing radical change, we could enable the shortening of the RandD process by up to two thirds as well as seeing a dramatic reduction in attrition rates and total costs of clinical trials,' said Moss of Pricewaterhousecoopers.
The ICR's 30th Spring Conference and Exhibition is entitled, 'Essential Updates and Lively Debates', and will be held at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham on 17 and 18 March 2009.
The format of the event has been updated for 2009 allowing more opportunity for discussion and interaction between the delegates across four specific streams: therapeutics, raising standards, sharing knowledge and developing professionals.
Each day, the conference will open and close with question and debate sessions covering controversial topics headed by the chief executive of Kings Fund, Niall Dickson, and author and broadcaster, Martin Ince.
Speakers include professor of cancer medicine at Imperial College London, Karol Sikora, and Dr Eva Bagenholm, the chair of the World Medical Association's (WMA) Ethics Committee.
