Report on the 10th Anniversary of International Drug Discovery Science and Technology Conference, 8 – 10 November 2012, Nanjing, China

Abstract

The 10th Anniversary of International Drug Discovery Science and Technology (IDDST) Conference was held in Nanjing, China from 8 to 10 November 2012. The conference ran in parallel with the 2nd Annual Symposium of Drug Delivery Systems. Over 400 delegates from both conferences came together for the Opening Ceremony and Keynote Addresses but otherwise pursued separate paths in the huge facilities of the Nanjing International Expo Centre. The IDDST was arranged into 19 separate Chapters covering drug discovery biology, target validation, chemistry, rational drug design, pharmacology and toxicology, drug screening technology, ‘omics' technologies, analytical, automation and enabling technologies, informatics, stem cells and regenerative medicine, bioprocessing, generics, biosimilars and biologicals and seven disease areas: cancer, CNS, respiratory and inflammation, autoimmune, emerging infectious, bone and orphan diseases. There were also two sessions of a ‘Bench to Bedside to Business' Program and a Chinese Scientist programme. In each period of the IDDST conference, up to seven sessions were running in parallel. This Meeting Highlight samples just a fraction of the content of this large meeting. The talks included have as a link, the use of new approaches to drug discovery. Many other excellent talks could have been highlighted and the author has necessarily had to be selective.