The DIA 42^nd Annual Meeting

Where do life sciences professionals who bring new medicines and vaccines to populations around the world gather to learn about best practices and the latest in regulations governing those practices? To the Drug Information Association (DIA) Annual Meeting – and this year’s meeting had something for everyone, with more than 350 sessions, 1,000 speakers and approximately 40 tutorials.

Held June 18-22, the 42^nd annual meeting of DIA attracted more than 6,000 people to Philadelphia – and SAS was there.

A look at the presentations
SAS had a large presence at the conference. Staff members participated in six presentations. Ed Helton, Chief Strategist for Regulatory and Biomedical Affairs at SAS, presented “The CDISC Standard from Operational Data Model (ODM) to Biomedical Research Integrated Domain Group (BRIDG).” He discussed and demonstrated the semantic interoperability of CDISC standard data from electronic capture to the electronic submission, review and approval process.

Helton also participated in the discussion, “Diving into the Details: An Expanded Business Case for Clinical Data Standards.” Analysts at Gartner estimate that data standards, with technology and processes, could save the industry between $5.8 and $6.6 billion dollars annually. Helton provided the CDISC business case during this presentation.

Every pharmaceutical and biotechnology company has to share data among systems or with other companies. Chris Decker, Systems Engineer for Pharmaceutical Software Development at SAS, led a session titled, “Why Your Data Can’t Talk to My Data.” Setting up a companywide data exchange strategy can be a difficult process. Decker explained the need for a flexible system that would support multiple formats and secure transmission methods.

Susan Flood, Principal Life Sciences Global Strategist, discussed the compelling drive to uncover safety risks by embracing biomarkers and defining diagnostic tests during clinical R&D in her presentation, “Drug Safety in the 21^st Century: Convergence with Biomarkers and Diagnostics Catalyzes Modernization.” Flood examined how organizations are incorporating innovative technologies to catalyze change in their traditional drug development programs.

“Developments in Electronic Pharmaceutical Data Archiving” presented an updated overview of the current needs and drivers for electronic data archiving, placing them in the context of business processes and the current regulatory framework. Jason Burke, Director of U.S. Life Sciences Strategy and Solutions at SAS, participated in this presentation by explaining how the development of a standards-based industry architecture would enable information and application interoperability between and across the converging provider and pharmaceutical industries.

Burke also was a panel member for the presentation, "Interoperability: What it Means for Clinical Researchers, Statisticians and Information Technology Professionals." This session brought together industry experts to share their visions and get a glimpse of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

What SAS brings to the table
At the SAS booth, SAS Drug Development, SAS Data Integration and SAS Business Intelligence were hot topics. SAS Drug Development leverages the strength of the SAS®9 intelligence platform to enable the collation, analysis and reporting of clinical research information. SAS Drug Development enables collaboration across geographies, trials, phases and therapeutic areas via a secure, centralized repository.

SAS Data Integration helps life sciences organizations aggregate information for analysis across the enterprise. Whether you plan to implement CDISC standards, improve product quality, or optimize sales and marketing expenditures, SAS provides a complete environment designed to deliver full-spectrum data integration capabilities across your enterprise that will enable you to turn disparate raw data into intelligence.

Life sciences firms have leveraged the power of SAS for 30 years. By integrating data from across the enterprise and delivering self-service reporting and analysis, life sciences firms using SAS Business Intelligence spend less time looking for information and more time making better, more informed decisions. The SAS Business Intelligence platform provides a complete portfolio of BI capabilities and applies the power of SAS analytics to create a complete and easy-to-use BI solution.

Partners help drive success
The SAS platform for life sciences is being embraced by an ever-expanding community of partner organizations. SAS partners include Cognizant, IMS Health, Relsys, JMP and DataFlux.

The partner community helps provide cost-effective ways for smaller organizations to access the benefits of the SAS platform. In addition, our partners expand SAS' traditional focus in clinical development and biostatistics to other areas, such as drug safety and sales and marketing.

Networking reception draws decision makers
The Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences played host to the DIA 2006 reception hosted by SAS and HP. Set among dinosaur skeletons, (stuffed) wild animals and jungle overgrowth, 150 decision makers from leading pharmaceutical and life sciences companies discussed the quest for safe, effective blockbuster drugs. The venue offered the ideal setting for a relaxed and casual dinner.

SAS is already working on next year’s DIA meeting in Atlanta, to be held June 17-21. We hope to see you there!