8,000 Pharmaceutical Scientists to Explore Breakthrough Research, Technology

AAPS Annual Meeting Topics Include Clinical Trials in Children, Oversight of Gene Therapy, Biogeneric Drug Products

ARLINGTON, Va. — More than 8,000 pharmaceutical scientists from around the world will gather in Denver, Oct. 21-25 at the 2001 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Annual Meeting and Exposition to learn, network and explore new scientific research and technologies.

"Scientists at this meeting will present more than 2,000 contributed papers featuring important scientific findings,"said AAPS President Ronald T. Borchardt, Ph.D. "The meeting will focus on such topics as gene therapy, pharmacogenomics and its impact on drug discovery and marketing, clinical trials in children, role of drug transporters in the brain, and emerging pharmaceutics strategies for more efficient drug candidate identification."

Topics to be presented include:

• Genomics: Impact on Drug Discovery and Marketing in the New Millennium
• Pediatric Rule: Mandating Clinical Trials in Children: Is it Time to End the Guesswork in Dose Selection for Children?
• Analysis and Pharmaceutical Quality of Biotechnology Derived Products: From Development to Production
• Current Oversight of Gene Therapy—Is It Adequate?
• The Successes and Challenges of Bioinformatics and Pharmacogenomics in Drug Discovery and Development
• Emerging Pharmaceutics Strategies for More Efficient Drug Candidate Identification
• Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Issues in the Elderly
• Penetration of Drugs and Macromolecules in Solid Tumors
• Role of Drug Transporters in the Brain
• Novel Tools to Study the Mechanisms, Expression and Regulation of Drug Transporters

The meeting's opening session features keynote speaker Donald P. Francis, M.D., D.Sc., President and Co-Founder of VaxGen, Inc. Dr. Francis is one of the world's most widely recognized scientists in the field of AIDS research. His efforts to call attention to the AIDS threat and warn of the inadequacy of the public health response were chronicled in the book and movie And The Band Played On , journalist Randy Shilts' account of the early years of the AIDS epidemic.

"The meeting's plenary session provides insight into state of the art technologies, the information created by these technologies, and the context in which drug development progresses in the ever more sophisticated regulatory environment," said AAPS Annual Meeting Program Chair Karen Habucky, Ph.D.

More than 500 companies will exhibit at this year's Exposition, expected to be the largest in AAPS' history. Exhibiting companies are involved in areas such as contract research and analytical services, contract manufacturing, drug delivery systems, drug development, and laboratory instruments and equipment. In 1999, Tradeshow Week called the AAPS Exposition one of the top five fastest-growing medical tradeshows.

For detailed information about the meeting and overviews of the presentations, visit www.aapspharmaceutica.com/annualmeeting. For press registration information, contact Debbie Werfel at 703-248-4743 or WerfelD@aaps.org .

Editor's Note: In early September, abstracts of the papers to be presented at the meeting will be published in AAPS PharmSci ^SM at www.aapspharmaceutica.com .

AAPS is a professional, scientific society of more than 11,000 members employed in academia, industry, government and other research institutes worldwide. Founded in 1986, AAPS aims to advance science through the open exchange of scientific knowledge, serve as an information resource, and contribute to human health through pharmaceutical research and development. For more information about AAPS, visit AAPS Pharmaceutica at www.aapspharmaceutica.com .

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