For the first time, at this year’s AM several speakers are using an Audience Response System as part of their presentation. Speakers ask questions and the audience answers the questions with a remote control device. Answers are immediately tallied and the data shown on screen.

“The sole purpose for us was to get a sense of the composition of the audience and as we went through discussions, we tailored those discussions along those lines,” said ISPE speaker Jeff Odum.

The method is being used in all the 600 sessions. Give us your feedback on it here by posting a comment.

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Attendees exiting this year’s ISPE AM Keynote seemed energized and loquacious about the three speakers and their presentations:

Patrick Yang, Executive Vice President, Product Operations, Genentech, discussed Genentech’s perspective on the legacies of the biotech industry starting in 1976 with the development of insulin and growth hormone through today’s progress in the areas of cancer, immunology and age-related macular degeneration. He then engaged the audience to be introspective about the questions, “What will be our legacy? Could it be industrialization of what we do? Globalization? Technology advancement? Becoming an admired and respected industry once again? Beating a serious disease, like cancer?” Take-away message: We can leave a great legacy behind us if we do the right thing.

“What a character!” was a popular phrase referring to Hans Rosling, professor of International Health at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. With his son and daughter-in-law he founded the Gapminder Foundation to promote a fact-based world view by developing Trendalyzer, software that converts international statistics into moving, interactive, and enjoyable graphics. He used the software (purchased by Google in 2007) to show the trends and links between health and the economy all over the world. Take-away message: Pharma can leave behind a legacy that is fair. The world can benefit from a bigger market from the pharmaceutical industry.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, US FDA, focused on pharmaceutical quality; its progress internationally in the last decade; an update of related intitiatives on the FDA front; and challenges for maintaining pharmaceutical quality. Take-away message (mantra I’m hearing from all the FDA folks here): Pharmaceutical manufacturers, importers, brokers and distributors must take primary responsibility for maintaining the quality of pharmaceuticals throughout the supply chain. FDA and other regulators cannot inspect quality into the global drug supply; inspection is only one important component.

What did you think about this year’s Keynote?

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Much to their surprise, Pfizer’s NEWCON facility in Illertissen, Germany was named the Overall Winner of the 2008 Facility of the Year Award. The well-guarded secret was revealed during the ISPE AM08 Keynote.

“It was really a great pleasure and an honor to be named a Category Winner, and so this is even more of a pleasure,” said Peter Reminger, Site Leader and Manager, Pfizer Illertissen. “I’m looking forward to going back to our team in Germany with this great news. At NEWCON, the concept is to push a button once, the process is completely automated, and we have OSD at the end. For us, this is the pharmaceutical manufacturing of the future.”

Pfizer was chosen from a pool of five Category Winners, including Boehringer Ingelheim in Biberach, Germany, Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Brunswick, NJ, USA, IDT Biologika GmbH in Dessau-Rosslau, Germany, and F. Hoffman La Roche AG in Penzberg, Germany.

“There must be something very special about Germany,” joked Clive Mullins, Chairman of the FOYA Committee. “Maybe it’s the beer.”

Read more.

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At this year’s Annual Meeting there are a lot of great things taking place. Just to name a few…

There will be seven educational tracks, allowing you to customize your learning experience. There are some new networking events, such as COP night on Monday where you can meet with peers in the same field of interest, as well as an excellent keynote line-up with industry professionals from around the world. What are you most looking forward to?

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Great line-up of keynote speakers for the ISPE Annual Meeting. Click here to view the post.

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