The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) has alerted us to a Nov. 28-9, 2007, meeting in Washington, D.C. on patient-reported outcomes (PRO).  There are confirmed speakers from Merck, JNJ, Daiichi Sankyo, Takeda, Schering and BMS. This is a hot topic and one dear to ClinPage’s heart; we’ll be attending. Among the PRO topics: interpreting FDA guidance, psychometric validation, data integration, the EXACT initiative, patient registries, trial design, drug safety and health economics. Ace conference organizer (781.939.2401) welcomes inquiries from those interested in speaking; CBI colleague (781-939-2406) is the person to get in touch with about sponsorship opportunities.

Premier Research Group has appointed Peter Fellner as non-executive chairman effective on September 2, 2007. He was CEO of Celltech from 1990 to 2003, and chairman from 2003 until its acquisition in 2004.  Fellner is currently chairman of Vernalis, Acambis and Astec Therapeutics. Premier CEO Simon Yaxley said, “We are delighted to have attracted someone of Peter’s caliber and reputation. His appointment represents the next step in our commitment to shareholders to strengthen the board.”

Contract research organization Criterium has opened two new offices in St. Petersburg, Russia, and Yavne, Israel. Criterium made its announcement at the 43rd Drug Information Association (DIA) annual meeting in Atlanta. The Russian location has three full-time employees. The office in Israel has one employee. John Hudak, president and founder of Criterium adds, “We have plans [to open offices in] New Zealand and South America. The regulatory process has to be reasonable. We’ve done work in Chile and just finished work in Ecuador.”

First Consulting Group (FCG), a provider of outsourcing, consulting, and integration services and proprietary software, has announced the launch of FirstPoint, a new suite of products developed specifically to address the content management and collaboration needs of the life sciences. FCG and Microsoft are working together to deliver a product built entirely on Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. The software solution offers a new architecture and user experience to boost productivity and ensure compliance in R&D, clinical, quality & manufacturing, sales & marketing and corporate operations. Jeff Klein, VP of product strategy for FCG Life Sciences said, “FirstPoint combines FCG’s deep experience in life sciences content management with the flexibility, power and simplicity of the Microsoft platform to bring these two worlds together.” Here’s a ClinPage story on the partnership.

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