Joel Richard, SVP at IPSEN S.A.S shares his view of the industry in advance of Peptides 2014

LONDON - April 15, 2014 - PRLog -- Two-day event to take place 30^th June – 1^st July 2014 in London

Following the announcement that the SMi Group would be holding its first ever Peptides event, speakers have enthusiastically signed up to help explain the ever increasing importance of assessing analytical developments, Peptide formulation and delivery to enhance therapeutic developments.

No longer a “niche” subject, Joel Richard of IPSEN S.A.S comments “Peptide therapeutics have been around for decades, but in recent years there has been an increasing interest from many pharmaceutical companies. More than 130 peptide candidates are in clinical development and many more in early stage research and pre-clinical phases. Improving design, synthesis and delivery technologies have overcome many barriers to effective treatments, and the industry may see them now as more flexible and cost-effective than their biologic equivalents; they realize the strong potential for peptides. For all these reasons, I see the future of the peptides industry very positively, since the pharmaceutical industry is investing more and more in the development of new peptide drugs, with high specificity, potency and lower toxicity.”

Joel’s full interview can be downloaded from the SMi website at: http://www.smi-online.co.uk/pharmaceuticals/uk/conference/Peptides

Peptides 2014 is fast becoming known as the industry’s meeting place for thought leaders across Europe and other speakers on the roster include:

• Thomas Vorherr, Director Peptide Discovery, Novartis Pharma AG

• Mark Currie, President of R&D, Chief Scientific Officer, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc.

• Nuno Madeira do O, Associate Scientist II, Formulation Sciences, MedImmune

• David Price, Senior Director, Pfizer

• Ved Srivastava, Head, Peptide Chemistry, GlaxoSmithKline

• Dieter Deforce, Professor at the University of Gent, Belgium, Member of the Scientific Advice Working Party of the EMA, Gent University

• Dinesh V. Patel, President and CEO, Protagonist Therapeutics Inc.

• Annette Friebe, Head, Late Discovery, Nexigen GmbH

• Christian Luber, Senior Scientist, Novo Nordisk

An exclusive half-day workshop  will also take place on Wednesday 2^nd July 2014 on extending the half-life of Peptides. Covering the key advantages of peptide conjugation vs SR formulations for half-life

extension, this workshop will encourage open discussion and cover essential issues to include PK Assessment of Peptides, comparing the PK Profile of various systems and much more.

Full event information can be found at http://www.smi-online.co.uk/pharmaceuticals/uk/conference/Peptides or early-bird places can be booked via Fateja Begum:  +44(0) 20 7827 6184.

Notes to editor

Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event, please contact Alia Malick on +44(0) 20 7827 6168.

About SMi Group

Established since 1993, the SMi Group is a global event-production company that specializes in Business-to-Business Conferences, Workshops, Masterclasses  and online Communities. We create and deliver events in the Defence, Security, Energy, Utilities, Finance and Pharmaceutical industries.

We pride ourselves on having access to the world’s most forward thinking opinion leaders and visionaries, allowing us to bring our communities together to Learn, Engage, Share and Network. We hold events in over 30 major cities throughout the world including London, Paris and Singapore and to date have welcomed over 200,000 participants from 80 countries.

More information can be found at www.smi-online.co.uk

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