Monrovia, CA -- (SBWire) -- 10/06/2011 --Neil S. Ryder, Executive Director of Infectious Diseases at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research will give a featured presentation on “Opportunities and Challenges for Novel Antifungal Therapies” at the 8th Anti-infectives Partnering and Deal-making Conference to be held in Boston, MA on November 7-8, 2011 by GTC.

Invasive fungal infection is still a major cause of mortality in immunocompromized and other seriously ill patients, despite the introduction of several newer antifungal drugs.

Modern medical procedures are increasing the number of patients susceptible to these pathogens. Therapies for superficial fungal infections such as onychomycosis are also suboptimal, requiring long courses of treatment with systemic agents. Nevertheless, few new antifungal agents are currently in the pipeline and development of new, more effective therapies has proved to be challenging. The eukaryotic nature of fungal pathogens brings inherent challenges in terms of target selection and selectivity, although there may also be potential benefits in terms of synergies with discovery programs in human biology or in diseases caused by other eukaryotic pathogens which are gaining increasing attention as a global health threat.

Dr. Ryder’s presentation will review:

• The needs and opportunities for new antifungal agents

• Overview of the current antifungal R&D pipeline; origins and prospects for new agents

• Novel approaches and technologies

• Medical, social and environmental factors impacting the field

• Future trends

Neil S. Ryder is Executive Director, Infectious Diseases at Novartis Institutes of BioMedical Research in Cambridge, Mass., where he currently heads the antifungal drug discovery program. He previously established and led the antibacterial and early antiviral programs there. Prior to Cambridge, Dr. Ryder was at the Novartis Research Institute in Vienna, where he held positions of increasing responsibility in Dermatology and Infectious Diseases. He was closely involved with the development of the antimycotic terbinafine. His scientific interests include mechanisms of action and resistance of antimicrobial drugs, and novel approaches to antimicrobial drug discovery, and he is author of over 100 publications and patents in these fields.

The 8th Anti-infectives Partnering and Deal-making Conference gives global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the infectious diseases industry an opportunity to network with high-level executives from top pharma and various biotech/pharmaceutical companies, as well as explore potential collaborations, and learn about relevant infectious disease issues and partnerships that will affect the industry.

The conference is part of the Infectious Diseases World Summit, which consists of 2 tracks including the 9th Vaccines Discovery and Development: All Things Considered Conference.