< PreviousCLINICAL TRIALS30Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.netcomes in at around thirty per cent, which is bad enough beforeit’s considered that this causes eighty per cent of trials to notfinish on time. Given trials are often expensive and difficult toorganise and maintain, setbacks such as these can skew data,affect results and eat into funding, which is often limited and notforthcoming. Though there are very valid reasons with participants wouldneed to drop out of a trial, such as individuals having poor – butnot critical – reactions to the drug being tested and thusneeding to be taken off the roster. But the biggest reason fordropouts is down to poor patient engagement between thepharmaceutical company, or the research team in charge of thetrial, and the volunteers. This can be down to several reasons, such as a lack offeedback, or difficulty in allowing people to understand or followstudy protocols, or even a case of simple motivation. There areso many do’s and don’ts for people in these trials to adhere to,that poorly provided material and lists on what they can andcannot do are likely to frustrate and, therefore, cause them todrop out. There’s no excuse for this in the digital age, however,with apps and social media at a company’s disposal to interactwith patients at a moment’ notice. But they’re simply not beingutilised. Pharma’s reticence in adopting social media is nosecret, though companies are coming around and finding thatengaging with consumers and patients via social media ishaving a meaningful impact. Applying this same approach toclinical trials could create a more harmonious and informedrelationship between companies and participants which, in turn,should help to curtail dropouts. Another issue among participates is adherence to the rules ofthe study. This could be failing to take a set amount of medicineduring set times of the day. Given patients can often strugglewith medicine adherence at the best of times, they can perhapsbe forgiven for slip-ups during clinical trials. Again, digitaltechnologies are helping. There’s a slew of apps designedspecifically to help patients take the right amount of medicineon time, which can be utilised for trials. Indeed, companies maywish to create their own app for exactly this purpose and, indoing so, have another set of data to collate. Clinical trials are a time-consuming and costly endeavour buta critical stage in the life of any new medicine, treatment andtherapy. Despite this importance, they are often beset bysetbacks and challenges. Adherence and engagement are twoof the biggest issues, but digital technology is helping to createa more transparent and efficient environment in which clinicaltrials can flourish. © Shutterstock /Image Point FrWorld Congress onAntibiotics Monday 13 – Tuesday 14 AugustRome, Italy The main focus of this timely conference ison antibiotic therapy, resistance andprevention, the pharmacology of antibiotics,meeting energy and re-emerging diseases andits place in oncology, among others. For more information, emailantibiotics@annualmeet.org.The Bioprocessing SummitMonday 13 – Friday 17 August Sheraton Boston, United States The Bioprocessing Summit convenes morethan 1,000 international bioprocessprofessionals to share practical solutions fortoday’s bioprocess challenges. Now in its tenthyear, the event has grown to include seventeendistinct conferences with weeklongprogramming on upstream and downstreamprocessing, analytic development and quality,formulation and stability, cell and gene therapyproduction, and manufacturing. For moreinformation, visitwww.bioprocessingsummit.com.PharmaEVENTSGlobal Pharma SummitMonday 3 – Tuesday 4 SeptemberAvani Atrium, Bangkok, Thailand The Global Pharma Summit offers healthcareand pharmaceutical professionals a platform toswap knowledge, forge contacts and stay atthe cutting edge of the industry. For moreinformation, emailpharmaceuticscongress@protonmail.com.© Shutterstock / LeoWolfert32Pharma Business International www.pbiforum.net© Shutterstock / PogoniciMEDEX 18Thursday 23 – Saturday 25AugustTatmadaw Exhibition Hall,Yangon, Myanmar MEDEX 18 will provide a platform for thosein the medical and pharmaceutical professionto source for equipment and get updated onthe latest developments and issues. It isNano Drug Delivery 2018Thursday 16 – Friday 17 AugustFinnstown Castle Hotel, Dublin,Ireland The twelfth edition of the InternationalConference on Nanopharmaceuticals andAdvanced Drug Delivery includes promptkeynote presentations, oral talks, posterpresentations and exhibitions, offering delegatesthe chance to stay abreast of the latest changesand innovations in the industry. For moreinformation, www.nano-drugdelivery.euroscicon.com.Quality Risk Management Tuesday 21 – Thursday 23 AugustPhiladelphia, United States Risk management is a key component to yourquality management system, a regulatoryrequirement and one that has a critical impacton your organisation. This conference candramatically affect the strategy surrounding yourrisk management programme. It provides theknowledge and tools to develop, implement andmaintain best-in-class procedures thatimpresses Food and Drug Administrationinvestigators, benefits your organisation andexpands your professional development. Formore information, visit www.kenx.org.expected to be the largest industry gathering in Myanmar and isexpected to showcase over 200 leading international brands. Formore information, visit www.medicasia.org.GRx+BiosimsWednesday 5 – Friday 7 SeptemberHilton Baltimore, United States Delegates will hear the very latest from top-in-their-fieldspeakers and government officials, share best practices anddiscover new learning tracks in the generic and biosimilarsindustry. Here you’ll also learn how to interpret Food and DrugAdministration compliance information and leave with what youneed to make more informed decision. For more information,visit www.cvent.com.Secrets of Batch Process Scale-UpTuesday 2 – Thursday 4 OctoberElite Palace Hotel, Stockholm, Sweden This course presents an overview of the issues inherent inoperating a commercial viable chemical process and examinestheir impact on process operation in the pilot plant and beyond –including scale-up considerations for route selection, rawmaterials charging, reaction steps, workup, crystallization,production isolation, drying and much more. For moreinformation, visit www.scientificupdate.com.www.pbiforum.netPharma Business International 33© Shutterstock / AtosanBlockchain for PharmaWednesday 29 – Thursday 30AugustThe Revere Hotel BostonCommon, United States This summit presents a uniqueopportunity to join industry leaders fromthe pharmaceutical industry in a forumaimed at boosting the knowledge andpresenting real-world case studies for theapplication of blockchain in thepharmaceutical industry. For moreinformation, visit www.blockchain-for-pharma.com.Tuesday 28 – Thursday 30 AugustCPhl KoreaCOEX Convention and Exhibition Centre, SeoulThis conference programme offers you high-level session featuringopinion leaders from government and academia. As a leading learningplatform for trends and issues confronting the pharmaceutical industry inKorea and the region, the conference will give you a realistic assessment ofthe industry challenges and strategies for dealing with them. For moreinformation, email lisa.sant@ubm.com.FEATURESDiabetes exposéFinance R&D Precision medicineDistribution Next issue:Deadline - 26th September 2018REGULARSNewsEventsM&A Round-upPharmaBUSINESS INTERNATIONALVisit us atwww.pbiforum.netwhere you’ll find thelatest news as it breaks – and why not subscribe to ournewsletters so you can have thelatest news emailed to yourinbox, in betweenprinted issues?@pbiforumwww.pbiforum.netcompany/po-business-internationalNext >