IBC's 11th The Drug Discovery Technology & Development World Congress will be held from August 7-10, 2006 at the World Trade Center Boston and The Seaport Hotel · Boston, MA, USA.

The event expects more than 4,000 pharmaceutical, biotechnology, government and academic researchers, executives and technology providers to participate. With more sessions than ever before, this year's program includes six dedicated conferences, on 'Targeting Disease and Evaluating Disease-Relevant Targets', 'Lead Discovery and Lead Optimization', 'Discovery to Development: Case Studies, Safety, PK/PD and Pharmacogenomics', 'Biomarkers: Utility, Validation and Applications from Discovery to Clinic' 'R&D Strategies and Business Alliances' and 'The Interface between Drug Discovery and Informatics'. The Early Stage Company Showcase will return to the event, with 15 emerging companies and technologies, in front the critique panel who will provide constructive suggestions on soundness of business model and novelty of technology or services provided.

As part of the 2006 Drug Discovery Technology & Development World Congress, all attendees have access to the four keynote presentations from Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., Acting Commissioner, FDA and Director, National Cancer Institute, Steven M. Paul, M.D., Executive Vice President, Science and Technology, President, Lilly Research Laboratories, Eli Lilly and Company, Peter B. Corr, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Science & Technology, Pfizer Inc and Susan Hockfield, Ph.D., President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Attendees also have option to register for any of the seven half-day, pre-conference workshops on Monday, August 7. Dr. von Eschenbach's address will provide an overview on the FDA's initiatives for protecting and advancing public health by helping to speed innovations, and highlighting the need for FDA-industry interaction and communications as the basis for success in bringing safer and more effective medicines to market. His speech complements the overall World Congress theme of providing scientific solutions and business strategies to help speed drugs to market.

Dr. Paul's address, "Drug Discovery and Development in XXIst Century: Realizing the Promise of Molecular Medicine," aims to discuss the factors which have contributed to declining R&D productivity despite the recent advances in genomics and the substantial investments in R&D made by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. He advocates for more innovative and flexible approaches to drug discovery and early clinical development.

Dr. Corr's address, "The 'Biomedical Ecosystem': Delivering Better Health and Prosperity," will look at the efforts that the biomedical community must make to maximize their capabilities and resources in order to increase productivity, forge stronger alliances, and advance innovation. He voices the need for a paradigm change -- from a focus on late-stage diseases to prevention, early diagnosis, targeted treatment and improved compliance. Dr. Hockfield's address, "The Art of Translation: Science, Engineering, Health and the Marketplace," will explore the promise and implications of new partnerships between institutions and across the boundaries between the university and the industry, which are the foundations in today's collaborative environment.

The World Congress also includes 7 pre-conference workshops taking place on Monday, August 7, 2006. Plus, on Thursday, August 10, 2006 the Congress will also feature a ½ day "Early Stage Company Showcase" as part of the R&D Strategies and Business Alliances conference and AAAS/Science will host a career fair. The R&D Strategies and Business Alliances Conference has been expanded to three full days of presentations and panel discussions. More than 50 industry leaders from large to small pharma, biologics to biotechnology companies, VCs to corporate venture funds, will gather to discuss and debate over 3 days from August 8-10, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts.

IBC's Lead Discovery and Lead Optimization Conference will address the challenges in the lead identification, hit to lead and lead optimization stages of drug discovery. This year's conference features a 300% increase in content/speakers dedicated to lead discovery and optimization/chemistry approaches...33 sessions this year versus 10 sessions in 2005. In addition, this conference will feature 14 lead optimization case studies representing several large, mid-size and smaller companies who will discuss their challenges, different approaches and successes at the lead optimization and compound selection phases of drug discovery.

On Thursday, August 10, 2006, the Lead Discovery and Lead Optimization conference will include featured presenter - Christopher, P. Austin Director of the NIH Chemical Genomics Center present on the NIH Molecular Libraries Initiative Roadmap. Additional session topics at this conference include: exploring chemistry space, filling the gaps in compound libraries and enhancing compound collections, fragment based approaches, technology applications and novel chemistry techniques and strategic perspectives in drug discovery.