CALBIOsummit 2003 Expands Program to Include Information Technology Tracks.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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CALBIOsummit 2003

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2003

Life Science Industry Conference Attracts Leading Speakers to

Address the Growing Need for IT within the Life Science Industry

BIOCOM announced today the expansion of CALBIOsummit 2003's program to include a new tract focused on the role of information technology in the biotechnology industry.

CALBIOsummit 2003, "The Science of Success: Thriving in Challenging Times," is California's largest annual life sciences industry conference, and will be held in the San Diego Convention Center on March 10 and 11, 2003.

The premier panel of the new track, "The Global Life Sciences-IT Consortium: Creating Integrated Structures to Speed the Development Process" will address how the life science, IT and regulatory communities can work together to reduce the time and cost associated with the discovery and development of medical products. While the paradigm shift towards information technology solutions has allowed for data transfer rates and data integrity capable of keeping up with current technological needs, these changes must be understandable and trusted by the regulatory bodies involved in bringing new drugs to market. Thus, the universal adoption of test beds and standards to ensure the authenticity, integrity, trustworthiness and privacy of electronic records is critical in order to significantly shorten the time to market while reducing cost.

Panel members, involved with the newly formed Life Sciences-IT Consortium, are industry leaders and include: Howard Asher, Group Director, Global Life Sciences Group, Sun Microsystems; Philip E. Bourne, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmacology, Director, Integrative Biosciences, San Diego Supercomputer; Adam Godzik, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Program Director, Bioinformatics and Biological Complexity Program The Burnham Institute; Ed Holmes, Vice Chancellor, Dean, Health Sciences, UCSD School of Medicine; and Greg Horowitt, Director Corporate Connections, UCSD CONNECT. Wain Fishburn, Partner, Cooley Godward LLP will moderate.

"It's no secret to the biotech industry that in the past 30 years the cost of developing a new drug from discovery to approval has risen from $8 million to $800 million and the time horizon has almost doubled," said Joe Panetta, President and CEO of BIOCOM. "Many experts believe the only solution for these soaring drug costs is the successful convergence of IT in the Life Sciences industry. The IT track will address these opinions as well as how IT can dramatically cut testing time for new drugs through computational predictive models; how the use of IT for data capture in the lab and in clinical trials; and even the possibility of having wireless electronic laboratory notebooks activated by the fingerprint of the user, which also serves as authentication and security."

For additional information on sessions and workshops as part of the IT track or to registration for CALBIOsummit 2003, please visit http://www.calbiosummit.org, or contact Jennifer Landress at 858/455-0300.

About CALBIOsummit 2003

CALBIOsummit 2003 will bring together some of the finest of the state's biotech and life science executives in a day and a half conference focused on the strategic business requirements of the life sciences community throughout California and the West Coast.

A fresh innovative program includes a day of workshops (Monday, March 10) providing valuable hands-on training for key personnel on topics such as clinical and regulatory management, intellectual property, and investor relations. These workshops will be targeted at Manager and Director level employees and will be highly interactive for maximum benefit. Highly experienced practitioners and the CEOs will serve as the Workshop leaders, offering a dynamic approach, as well as lessons that can be leveraged by each participant.

This enriching program is followed the next day (Tuesday, March 11) by provocative and insightful sessions dealing with surviving and thriving in challenging times. Presentations of timely topics from experts and thought-leaders from within the life sciences community will offer a rare chance to hear from professionals who are defining the trends in our industry. From California to the world, the sessions are targeted towards senior level executives and middle management staff of life science companies.

A new component of CALBIOsummit is the BIOCOM/san diego Annual Dinner to be held on Monday evening as a celebration of the year's achievements in the Life Sciences industry. With expected attendance topping 1,000, attendees will include biotech, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, medical devices, and BioIT executives. The city and state's life science and political elite will be in attendance at this prestigious event, along with a dynamic cross-section of industry, including telecom, software, academia and the military. The Dinner will feature nationally recognized keynote speaker, Naomi Judd, awards to key supporters of the industry and a special video celebrating California's life science achievements.

About BIOCOM:

BIOCOM is the premier association for biotechnology, bioinformatics, medical device and diagnostic companies in the greater San Diego area; and its membership also includes finance, legal, architectural, marketing, insurance, real estate, regulatory affairs companies and research institutions that service and support the life sciences community. BIOCOM organizes the annual statewide conference, CALBIOsummit, which serves as a legislative and business forum for the California life science industry.