Monrovia, CA -- (SBWire) -- 07/28/2009 -- The cost to discover and develop a drug is increasing dramatically both in Europe and the US. Making things more difficult, as the aforementioned costs rise, the number of approved new drug products is on the decline. Drug manufacturers are desperately searching for ways to increase the efficiency of the drug discovery process while decreasing the costs and time it takes for the necessary approvals.

Biomarkers are increasingly being used to answer specific questions that provide critical go-no-go decision-support data as a compound moves down the pipeline and soaks up more and more research and development dollars. Thus, biomarkers are being used to measure clinical responses to a drug, to quantify drug-target interactions, demonstrate the relevance of a molecule to the pathophysiology of a particular disease, and are used as safety indicators that can identify subjects who might react adversely to a drug. Biomarkers have become increasingly important at every stage of development of a compound and subsequent post-approval lifecycle management.

GTCBio’s 2nd Annual Biomarker Discovery Europe Conference, to be held this October 1-2, 2009 in Lisbon, Portugal will provide a focused look at the applications of biomarkers throughout the drug discovery process. The conference will provide the tools on how to incorporate biomarkers into your discovery programs and translational research for better results. We will discuss new strategies & technologies for biomarker discovery as well as highlight those biomarkers currently used in clinical trials.