The Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research (NIPER) is organizing the 40th Annual Conference of the Indian Pharmacological Society from November 1 to 3, 2007

The conference will bring in a large gathering of pharmacologists and allied drug discovery scientists from all over the country and world to deliberate on the scientific strategies with a view to keep up with the paradigm shift in drug discovery and development occurring in this millennium.

A pre-conference workshop on "Basic Concepts of Scientific Research" on October 31, 2007 for an exclusive group of participants is also part of the annual conference, said a release.
"The average cost of introducing the new chemical entities (NCE) is very high since the drug discovery program is a long drawn process and is having a high attrition rate because of stringent regulatory requirements. Drug discovery process is undergoing a paradigm shift which is based upon new technologies such as genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, chemoinformatics, in silico drug design, target identification and validation, robust in vitro & in vivo assay systems and prediction of the toxicity, has provided powerful momentum to pharmaceutical R&D. India with its unique advantages is going to be the hub of the pharmaceutical R & D and clinical trials in the coming years. To make it a reality there is a need for all rounded effort with respect to capacity building as well as highly trained man power to handle the research as well as regulatory affairs of the introduction of NCEs,'' the release said.

The conference is an attempt to understand the different aspects of drug discovery and development and provide a forum to drug discovery scientists and pharmacologists who are in different facets viz., academia, industry, research institutes and regulatory authorities, according to the organizing committee.

Nearly 1,000 pharmacological intellectuals, academicians, and scientists spearheading the pharmacology education throughout the country and abroad are expected to participate in the conference.