The Second Annual Conference of the Sino-American Pharmaceutical Professionals Association-Greater Philadelphia Chapter (SAPA-GP), entitled "Current Trends in World Pharmaceutical and Biotech R&D," was successfully held on June 5 (Saturday), 2004 at Gwynedd-Mercy College, Pennsylvania. The event attracted around 200 professionals in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in a rainy day.
The conference covered a broad range of topics in pharmaceutical and biotech R&D and commercialization with 11 speakers. Highlights from the morning session of the conference included the speech delivered by Dr. Susan Dillon, Senior Vice President of Discovery Research, Centocor, Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Dillon analyzed the challenges and opportunities of monoclonal antibody drug development, pointing the trend for increasing numbers of biologics entering the marketplace is expected to continue based on the large pool of candidates in late stage development for a multitude of disease indications. Dr. Dillon also discussed the exciting future therapeutic prospects from Centocor’s pipeline. Dr. Zhenping Zhu, Assistant Vice President & Head, Antibody Technology, ImClone Systems Inc. continued the topic about monoclonal antibody with the story of Erbitux. Dr. Zhu shared with audience the development process of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody for treating metastatic colon cancer and also the ups and downs of ImClone. Dr. Kei-Lai Fong, Vice President, Calvert Laboratories, discussed a case study to illustrate the strategies to accelerate early development. The presentation of Scrapied Sheep to Mad Cows: Recent Adventures of the BSE Rogue Protein from Dr. John Lewis, Senior Scientific Director, Merck Research Laboratories wrapped the intense first part of the conference.
In the afternoon session, the conference shifted focus to drug filing and approval process, founding and building a sustainable biopharmaceutical company, and challenges and opportunities of Chinese pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Julian Jenkins, Director, GSK, talked about modelling the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data to bridge between phases of development and shorten overall development timelines. Dr. Joseph Kim, Co-Founder, President and CEO, VGX Pharmaceuticals shared his hands-on experience in starting and growing VGX Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Zi-Qiang Gu, Compliance Officer, FDA provided an overview of drug approval process from chemistry, manufacturing, and controls perspectives. Pharmaceutical industry in China continued to be a hot topic in this conference. Dr. James Li, Director, Hypertension Franchise, Asia, Merck, reviewed the current landscape of Chinese pharmaceutical market and explores the potential opportunities in developing novel pharmaceuticals in or for Chinese market. As a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Mark Gao, Managing Director and CEO, MCHEM Pharma Group in Xiamen, China, shared the story of MCHEM Pharma Group development and did a comparable analysis about pharmaceutical exporting products in China and India. Mr. Albert Li, Co-Founder and Vice President of Synergetica, using his own company as an example, told the audience how to convert a business idea into a business reality. Dr. Jing-yi Wang, an oversea returnee and currently Vice-President and Director of Drug R&D Division, Qilu Pharmaceuticals in Jinan, China, provided an overview on current status of drug R&D in China. The afternoon session was wrapped up with a very lively panel discussion followed by a dinner party at Golden City Restaurant, providing a great networking opportunity between members and the speakers, sponsors and the guests from the NY Consulate General and the United Nations.
During the meeting, several awards were presented to companies and individuals for their contribution to SAPA-GP. Wuxi PharmaTech received this year’s SAPA-GP Corporate Excellence Award. SAPA-EC members, Wenting Chen, Jian Li and Jiangfan Li, were honored by SAPA-GP Excellent Service Awards. Two volunteer Service Awards went to Mrs. Hong Ye and Mrs. Julia Zhang to appreciate their help to many SAPA-GP activities. The Founding President of SAPA-GP, Bo Liang transferred the leadership to the new President, Han-Cheng Zhang. The Executive Committee for SAPA-GP 2004-2005 with 18 members was elected and Dr. Li Shi was elected as the president-elect (to serve as president for 2005-2006).