MILAN, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

On the 5^th to the 7^th of November, a distinguished consortium of 50 C-level executives will head to the Meliá Milano Hotel, Milan, in Italy, for two days as they attend GDS International's highly anticipated fourth Next Generation Pharmaceutical Drug Development summit (NGP DD EU4).

The development of targeted therapies and the potential for personalised medicine appears to have generated a significant demand in offering an accurate and reliable means of identifying patients who will benefit from treatment in clinical practice. However, as a result, companies are increasingly being forced to consider options for establishing an accompanying patient-selection diagnostic framework at earlier stages in development.

With this in mind, the NGP DD EU4 summit will focus on a variety of common pain points that are present within the industry today. Combining high-level roundtable discussions with next generation technology solutions that have been specifically tailored to address key topics within the European pharmaceutical sector, workshops from the delegation - as well as from Waters Corporation and Selventa - will shed new light on these issues.

In attendance will be a selection of some of the industry's most prominent thought leaders who will be contributing to the direction of the summit through topic-specific panel discussions. Sibo de Jong, VP Pharmaceutical R&D for Astellas Pharma; Henning Steinhagen, VP Global Preclinical R&D for Gruenenthal; Andrew Parsons, VP Pre-Clinical Drug Development for GSK; Anders Ullman, R&D Transition Lead for Takeda Global Research & Development Center Inc.; and Conrad Bleul, Director Translational Medicine for Novartis are but a few of the senior members scheduled for attendance.

Dr Alexander Alanine, Head of Technologies and Innovation at F.Hoffmann-La Roche, was an attendee at last year's summit. He said: "The event provided a refreshingly exciting blend of science, technology, process and vendor solutions/discussions. Highly recommended, an excellent format and a valuable two-day deep dive into the full breadth of key issues in drug discovery and development."

Ruben Kempeneer, Summit Director for GDS International - the global events company behind NGP DD EU4 - agreed, stating: "Research and development need to collaborate more closely, and then drive greater collaboration with clinical partners in an R & D & C model. Collaborations across pharma, biotech, academia, and even regulators and payers will yield the best results. The NGP Drug Development Summit will continue to act as a unique opportunity for senior executives across the drug discovery and development continuum to learn, network and do business."

For more information, please visit http://www.pharmasummiteurope.com

About GDS International

GDS International is one of the most innovative events and media companies worldwide - and a globally renowned producer of business-to-business summits, conferences, online information and advisory group gatherings. Founded in 1993, GDS International specialises in meeting the B2B marketing needs of our clients. Having a strong presence in mature industrial sectors but a finger on the pulse of emerging markets - as well as up-and-coming B2B business verticals - means we are perfectly placed to capitalise on the exciting developments brought about by the advent of a globalised economy. Our value proposition is simple: we deliver tangible business results from world-class events.

http://www.gdsinternational.com

Contact: Kimberley Hogarth
kimberley.hogarth@gdsinternational.com
+44-1179-261-420

SOURCE GDS International