ICRI to host international conference on trends in Clinical Research

The conference will be held on Global trends in Clinical Research: India 2008 from March 14-15 at Hotel Intercontinental, the Grand, Mumbai.

The conference will serve as an international and neutral forum to address current scientific research in India pertaining to global development of drugs and biologics. Besides discussing the global trends in clinical research, the conference will focus on the real-world issues, facing Clinical Research in India and look to develop a consensus on how India should move forward to ensure efficient, accurate, auditable and ethical Clinical Research data.
Leaders and experts across the pharmaceutical, academia and regulatory agencies will convene to discuss drug discovery and global clinical research. Some of the key speakers include Dr. Surinder Singh Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Dr N K Ganguly, former Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India. V Muthuswamy, Senior Deput Director, ICMR, Govt of India,), G J Samathanam, Advisor, DST, Govt of India, K K Tripathi, Advisor, DBT, Govt of India Stanley A Edlavitch, Professor of Epidemiology & Director Graduate Training, USA, Diana Anderson, President and CEO, DL International, USA (In Cooperation with FDASmart Inc.

Leading pharmaceutical companies like Ranbaxy, Quintiles, Dr Reddys, Panacea Biotec, Fortis, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Unichem, etc are also taking part in this event.

Keynote lectures, workshops, parallel discussion and Q&A sessions on the Indian clinical research market will be conducted. It is intended to create awareness among industrial houses, innovators, scientists, researchers and students about the emerging avenues in clinical research.

Dr S K Gupta, Dean & Director General, ICRI, said, It will be a wonderful opportunity to interact with the learned scholars and professionals from the field of Clinical Research from around the world. This conference will act as a facilitating forum for participants to gain an insight into the active global issues impacting upon drug development in India. It will also provide possible solutions to current challenges faced by those undertaking Clinical Research in India.

According to an ICRI study, the Clinical research industry is growing at an unparalleled rate. It has opened new vistas of employment for a large number of trained professionals. The clinical trails market worldwide is worth over USD 52 billion and the industry has employed an estimated 21,00,000 people in the US and over 70,000 in the UK, and they form one third of the total Research & Development staff. There are more than 2,50,000 positions vacant globally and annual salaries from $40,000 to $1,00,000 indicating that it is a well-paid career.

By 2010, McKinsey Report estimates, the volume of clinical research business in India is expected to be around US$ 1000 million. ICRI views that this would translate into the opening up of 50,000 new career opportunities for life sciences and medical graduates in India.

The global demand for Clinical Research to be undertaken in India has expanded significantly over the last five years. A considerable interest has been focused upon outsourcing of Clinical Research to India. The domestic pharmaceutical industry has also rapidly begun involving into a global player. This conference highlights the fundamental opportunities and challenges faced by all, conducting Clinical Research in India through solution driven sessions presented by experts, from industry and academia, with practical global experience.

ICRI is Indias premier institute for Clinical Research. ICRI has been conceived with the objective of meeting the growing demand of skilled Clinical Research professionals in the future. Several courses are offered by the Institution is specially made to suit the requirements of a large number of people with varied experiences.

ICRI currently operates from four campuses in Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.