The Drug Information Association (DIA) is hosting the 8th Middle East Regulatory Conference in Manama, Bahrain, January 20-21, 2009. The focus will be to increase access to new medicines and therapies for patients in the Middle East.

Attending will be key stakeholders from the Middle East Regulatory Network (MERN) and multinational, as well as local, pharmaceutical companies who will discuss and strategize:
* Local regulatory authority issues
* Pharmacovigilanace
* Pharmacoeconomics
* Counterfeit medicines
* Innnovations in quality
* Good manufacturing processes
* Common technical document submissions
* Biologics
* Biosimilars, and
* Evolving global legislation

"Since its inception 13 years ago, the Middle East Regulatory Conference has grown to become an important forum for discussion of matters related to the provision of healthcare in the region, with a specific focus on issues around the evaluation and supervision of innovative medicines for human use," said Program Chair, Professor Trevor Jones, CBE, WHO Commissioner, CIPIH, UK.

MERN is an ad hoc regional network of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) that partners on policymaking with regulatory authorities and the pharmaceutical industry.

Headquartered in Horsham, PA, the DIA provides a neutral global forum permitting the exchange of best practices. The organization serves more than 30,000 professionals in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and regulatory industries.

For more information:
http://www.diahome.org/DIAHome/