The nanotech community will gather for two days on March 26-27, 2007 in Arlington, VA to discuss the most important applications of nanotechnology in drug delivery, diagnostics and medical devices. The two-day conference will consist of presentations, panels and networking opportunities, providing insights into trends in nanomedicine, dissociating myths from realities and highlighting future areas of commercial potential.

On behalf of the sponsors, the organizing committee and the Strategic Research Institute (www.srinstitute.com), it is my great pleasure to invite you to our 2nd Annual Conference titled NANOMEDICINE: Commercializing Drug Delivery, Diagnostics and Medical Devices.
As you are well aware, innovations at the intersection of medicine, biotechnology, engineering, physical sciences and information technology are spurring new directions in R&D, commercialization and technology transfer.

Basic research in nanotechnology and nanomedicine is rapidly producing commercially viable products. Governments and industries across the globe are staking their claims by investing billions of dollars, euros and yen for research. International rivalries are growing. Political alliances and battle lines are beginning to gel. In 2005, governments, corporations and venture capitalists globally spent almost 10 billion US dollars on nanotechnology R&D. Public Perception has also been steady increasing as a mention of nanotechnology in the media has dramatically risen in the past few years. In light of the potential market value of nanomedicines, a sort of “patent land grab” is in full swing by “patent prospectors” as startups and corporations compete to lock up broad patents in these critical early days.

Nanotech researchers, executives, policy-makers, patent practitioners, and investors from the medical, business, patent and life sciences community will gather in Washington, DC in November for the 2nd Annual Nanomedicine Conference to discuss the most important applications of nanotechnology in drug delivery, diagnostics and medical devices. Last year’s conference was so successful that a lead cover story covering last year’s conference appeared in the Genetic Engineering News.

What’s new for 2007? Cutting-edge R&D, commercialization strategies, regulatory and IP issues will be highlighted over the two days. Also, new applications in the medical device industry will be covered. The full two day conference will consist of presentations, panels and networking opportunities with representatives from industry, government and academia.

FEATURED TOPICS:

* Novel targeted drug delivery and earlier diagnosis via various nanomaterial-based nanomedicines: Nanoparticles; Dendrimers; Nanoliposomes; Quantum dots; Carbon nanotubes; Fullerenes; etc.
* Emerging role of nanotechnology based drug discovery, focusing on:
o High throughput screening
o Lab-on-a-chip devices
o Single molecule analysis via DNA “barcode” and AFM arrays
o Functional imaging using in vivo screening
* Commercializing Nanomedicine: From the Lab to the Clinic
* Assessing IP, licensing and nanobusiness opportunities and challenges
* Health, environmental, policy and ethical issues
* Role of federal agencies: Patent Office; FDA; NNCO; EPA; NASA; NIST
* Fabricating novel nanodevices, including
o Novel Materials
o Micro/nano fluidics
o Remote monitoring and delivery
* The future role of pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine in nanomedicine