The Drug Information Association (DIA) in Europe will host its 22nd Annual EuroMeeting from 8-10 March 2010 in Monaco. The DIA Annual EuroMeeting features more than 110 hot-topic sessions across 13 themes and attracts more than 3,000 professionals from the biopharmaceutical industry, contract service organisations, regulatory agencies, health ministries and academia, as well as patients and students worldwide.

Video of 21^st Annual EuroMeeting

Themes are based on an integrated multidisciplinary approach that will generate interest from as many disciplines as possible. This year’s themes include:

• Innovation
• Staying in Business: How to Make Sure You Comply with All Rules and Regulations
• Paediatric Medicines on Their Way to Patients
• Decision Making: The Key to Efficient and Effective Drug Development, approval, and access
• Paving the Way for Advanced Therapies: Fostering New Generations of Biotechnology-Derived Medicines
• Challenges for Switching from Prescription to Non-Prescription Status through the Centralised Procedure
• Personalised Medicines: What Is It, Where Do We Stand, and Where Are We Going?
• Taking the European Regulatory Infrastructure Forward
• Risk Management
• The Informed Patient
• eHealth
• Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2020
• Handling Clinical Trials, eSubmissions and Quality Requests

EuroMeeting Programme

“We are confident that we have identified interesting and thought-provoking topics for the themes that will create a lively platform to debate the development and market access of medicines in Europe,” explains EuroMeeting Co-chair Kerstin Franzén, Senior Director, Regulatory Policy & Intelligence, Pfizer, Sweden.

Additional EuroMeeting highlights include:

• Speakers from the European Medicines Agency, the FDA, the European Commission and other regulatory agencies throughout Europe
• More than 230 exhibitorson one of the largest exhibition floors in Europe, showcasing their latest products and services
• Unparalleled multidisciplinary networking opportunities
• 21 pre-conference tutorials led by expert faculty

The opening plenary session will be held on Monday, 8 March at 13:30 and will be structured as an “Oxford Debate” following the University of Oxford’s eminent tradition. The motion is, “The process to develop new medicines and bring them to patients is neither efficient nor effective. There is a risk that medical needs will no longer be fulfilled in the future if the relevant stakeholders are not included in the process.” Professor Stuart Walker from the CMR International Institute for Regulatory Science will chair the debate. Two teams of renowned panellists will confront each other and present formal arguments in favour of or in opposition to the motion.

The regulatory team will consist of Thomas Lönngren, Executive Director of the European Medicines Agency and Eric Abadie, CHMP Chair and General Directorate of the French Agency, AFSSAPS. The industry team will consist of Richard Bergström, Director-General of the Swedish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry and Eddie Gray, President, Pharmaceuticals Europe, GlaxoSmithKline.

Networking plays an integral part in the overall EuroMeeting experience. All networking eventsat the EuroMeeting,including lunches, coffee breaks and evening receptions with drinks and snacks, are included as part of the registration fee.

Special sessions designed to enhance the EuroMeeting experience include:

• Student and Young Professional Sessions: Monday, 8 March from 09:00-12:30
• Agency Satellite Session – Focus on Small Agencies and Small Market:Tuesday, 9 March from 18:00-19:30—featuring presenters from the Medicines Authority Malta, Actavis Iceland and the State Medicines Control Agency Lithuania
• Japanese Regulatory Session: Wednesday, 10 March from 11:00-12:30

“The programme committee believes all attendees can play a key role in building the success of the EuroMeeting and ensuring its place as one of the most important European conferences for professionals involved in the development of medicines,” says EuroMeeting Co-Chair Bruno Flamion, Professor, Clinical Pharmacology, University of Namur, Belgium and Chair, Scientific Advice Working Party, European Medicines Agency.

Register for the 22^nd Annual EuroMeeting

About the Drug Information Association (DIA)

The DIA is a neutral, global, professional, member-driven association of nearly 18,000 biotechnology, pharmaceutical, clinical research, academic and regulatory professionals and patient representatives. Through its international meetings, training courses, online learning and myriad networking opportunities, the DIA provides a global forum for knowledge exchange that fosters the innovation of products, technologies, and services to improve health and well-being worldwide. Headquarters are in Horsham, PA, USA, with offices in Basel, Switzerland, Tokyo, Japan, Mumbai, India, and Beijing, China. For more information, visit www.diahome.org or call DIA in Europe +41 61 225 51 51.