Celebrating the significant regional assets in the Contract Research Organization (CRO) sector, BioResearch Central held several events on November 19-20 at different venues.
The Second BioResearch Central Summit was presented by the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI), BioKansas and MOBIO. Three area CROs – Acceleration Laboratory Services, Catalent Pharma Solutions, and PRA International – opened their doors and offered tours to potential clients and 82 interested parties. The tours culminated in a pre-Summit reception to over 100 guests at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. David Chou, President of the Stowers Institute (SIMR), provided opening remarks and Saurabh Saha, President, Biomed Valley Discoveries provided an overview of his organization’s approach to drug development. Tours of SIMR were available throughout the evening of high-quality networking.
The second BioResearch Central Summit was convened the next day at the Overland Park Marriott. A total of 156 registered to attend along with 32 exhibitors highlighting CRO services available in the region. Alfred Botchway, President of Xenometrics, LLC and Chair of the BioResearch Central Advisory Committee, opened the meeting with welcoming remarks and an introduction of the keynote speaker. John Carroll, Editor of FierceBiotech, provided an excellent overview of outsourcing trends and the impact of globalization on drug development. His comments set the tone for the rest of the day’s agenda. The other featured keynote speaker of the day was Sally Howard, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Planning, and Legislation at U.S. Food and Drug Administration. She provided her perspectives on how globalization challenges, advancements in regulatory science, and smart regulation are spurring a new era of innovation.
The Summit also provided a perfect forum for announcing the results of a recent market survey of the region’s CRO industry. Jeff Hargroves, President of ProPharma Group, Inc, presented the survey results, noting that the project was funded by the Kansas Bioscience Authority and the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute and was conducted by Global Prairie via an electronic survey targeting CRO managers in the greater Kansas City region. The response rate was over fifty percent. The survey results depict a healthy, robust, CRO industry sector that is expanding as evidenced by increasing personnel, expanding service offerings, and increased revenues. Regional CROs provide services mostly for US-based large pharmaceutical companies, with clinical services more in demand than non-clinical services. Among the latter, however, analytical services and pharmacokinetics studies are a regional strength.
The following speakers also contributed to a successful day of presentations:
Jannette Berkley-Patton
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Missouri-Kansas City
Panelist – Innovation in Patient Recruitment
Jared Byer
Managing Director, BioAlliance Strategies
Panelist – Innovation in Patient Recruitment
Margaret (Peggy) Fay
Clinical Research Director, Medtronic Clinical Research Institute
Is Risk Based Monitoring Risky Business?
Melissa Gilmore
Shareholder, Polsinelli
Panelist – Innovation in Patient Recruitment
Patricia Kluding
Associate Director, Clinical and Translational Science Unit, Frontiers
Panelist – Innovation in Patient Recruitment
Stanley McDermott
Director, Center for Community and Clinical Research at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences
Moderator – Innovation in Patient Recruitment
Jim Moran
Executive Director of Advisory Services Practice, Ernst & Young, LLP
Life Science Trends Impacting Clinical Research: the Provider Perspective
Stephen O’Conner
Chief Executive Officer, Impedx
Kansas City Entrepreneurial and Start-Up Ecosystem
Jignesh Patel
Scientific Director, PRA International
Applications of Adaptive Study Designs in Early Clinical Trials – The Fast Track Way to Proof of Concepts
Charles Ruegg
Senior Research Advisor, Chorus (a Division of Eli Lilly & Co.)
The Chorus Virtual Drug Development Model
Sanjeev Wadhwa
Partner & Principal, Advisory Services Practice, Ernst & Young, LLP
Biology to Trial: Accelerating R&D through Bio-banking and Patient Outcomes
Mary Westrick
Vice President, Phase I U.S. and General Manager, Quintiles
First-in-Human Protocols: How Much is Too Much?