Use of biomarkers from drug discovery through clinical practice: Report of the Ninth European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference on Optimizing Drug Development

The Ninth European Federation for Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS) Conference on Optimizing Drug Development was held in Basel, Switzerland, December 10-12, 2001. The overall objective of the conference was to find new ways of advancing the integration of biomarkers into drug development and clinical practice to make drug development more efficient and the clinical use of drugs more effective. The aim of this conference report is to summarize the key ideas and recommendations that were identified at the meeting, both by formal presentation and from the breakout sessions, which all participants were encouraged to join. Rather than providing a synopsis of each individual presentation, the report is organized along the key themes that emerged during the meeting.