PharmaNet Development Group, Inc. Complimentary Symposia 'Accelerating Early Stage Drug Development and the FDA's Critical Path Initiative'

PRINCETON, N.J., June 8 /PRNewswire/ -- PharmaNet Development Group, Inc., a leading provider of drug development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug and medical device industries, is pleased to announce that it is hosting two complimentary symposia and round table discussions entitled "Accelerating Early Stage Development and the FDA's Critical Path Initiative." The symposia will include timely topics on drug discovery and development and be held in:

Boston, MA on Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Princeton, NJ on Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Featured sessions include:

• A Regulatory Overview on FDA's Critical Path Initiative and New Drug Development, Andrew Chang, Ph.D., Executive Director, PharmaNet Consulting

• Strategies to Optimize Target Selection, Kathleen Smith, Ph.D., Translational Medicine Consulting

• Accelerating Lead Optimization: In vivo Fast PK Studies Using the Exactive Orbitrap, Rohan A. Thakur, Ph.D., Associate Director, Specialized Mass Spectrometry, Taylor Technology, a PharmaNet Company

• Preclinical Data Front-loading: ADMET Perspectives, Sanjeev Thohan, Ph.D., Senior Research Fellow in Preclinical/Translational Sciences, Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (Boston)

• Innovative Approaches for Accelerating Phase I Drug Development, Fethi Trabelsi, Ph.D., Director, Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Anapharm, a PharmaNet Company (Princeton)

• Strategies to Reduce Immunogenicity of Large Molecules Drugs throughout the Drug Development Process, Robert Dodge, Ph.D., Laboratory Director, Immunochemistry and Cell Biology, Taylor Technology, a PharmaNet Company

• Application of Dried Blood Spots in the Bioanalytical Laboratory: Advantages and Challenges, Casey Tyrrel, Research Scientist II, Taylor Technology, a PharmaNet Company

Following the symposium in NJ, attendees may take an escorted tour of the Company's Taylor Technology state-of- the-art bioanalytical laboratory. For more information, please contact Mary Brickner at mbrickner@pharmanet.com or at 609-951-6976.

Exactive and Orbitrap are trademarks of Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.

About PharmaNet Development Group, Inc.

PharmaNet Development Group, Inc., a global drug development services company, provides a comprehensive range of services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug and medical device industries. The Company offers early and late stage consulting, Phase I clinical studies and bioanalytical analyses, and Phase II, III and IV clinical development programs. With approximately 2,300 employees in 34 countries and more than 42 facilities throughout the world, PharmaNet is a recognized leader in outsourced clinical development. For more information, please visit our website at www.pharmanet.com.

SOURCE PharmaNet Development Group