Quintiles To Host 2015 SMi Conference on Improving COPD Clinical Trials

After several successful events covering respiratory disease research and drug development, SMi’s conference on COPD will be held again this year in Central London. Now in its seventh consecutive year, SMi’s COPD conference is scheduled for the 19th and 20th October.

Sponsored by Quintiles, a leading biotech CRO, this year’s conference will feature an exclusive post-conference event as well, with an interactive workshop to be hosted by Dr. Graham Clarke, Senior Director of the company who is also the Head of Respiratory & Inflammation in Quintiles’ Early Clinical Development unit; as well as Dr. Juan Gispert, currently the Senior Medical Director at Quintiles who is responsible for the company’s medical Allergy and Respiratory teams.

The interactive workshop will take place at the Holiday Inn Regents Park in London beginning on the 21st of October and will include three main session to provide a global view on the setup, design and management of clinical trials for patients with COPD, based on the proven experience and lessons learned by each team member of Quintiles.

With a primary focus on utilizing an intelligent clinical approach in early COPD clinical advancement, the first session will explore POC studies and adaptive designs, the utilization and advantages of challenge models, COPD functional markers in adaptive designs and sputum methodologies that help enhance COPD’s primary biomarkers.

After a networking coffee break, the second session will offer strategic and regulatory guidance, utilizing case studies from compounds that are now being developed to potentially treat the disease.

The last session will feature Quintiles personnel discussing how it is possible to maximize the efficiency of COPD clinical trials through the use of patient centric studies, effective recruitment strategies and compliance in long term studies.

Quintiles transnational is a Fortune 500 firm and is also the largest provider of biopharmaceutical advancement and commercial outsourcing services in the world. It features a network of over 32,000 employees, conducting business in almost 100 countries. The company’s work in helping to optimize and improve clinical trials for experimental COPD therapies could potentially facilitate and accelerate next-generation therapeutics for treating the disease that could improve lifespan and quality of life after diagnosis.