The CRO industry is growing fast, with an annual growth rate of over 8.5% and is expected to reach US$35bn by 2015. Driven in part by the intense pressures of the global economic environment, shrinking product pipelines, generic competition and rapidly increasing costs, the pharmaceutical and biotech industries are turning to CROs in order to reduce risk/costs, increase efficiencies and remain competitive. However, managing partnerships with external organisations presents many challenges and opportunities.

Join us at SMi's 2nd annual Managing Partnerships with CROs conference and delve into these issues. With a case study focused agenda with representatives from both sides of the table, you'll gain a unique insight into effective CRO partnership management from the key opinion leaders in this field.

By attending this conference, you will learn:
• The characteristics of a good partner, and how that selection could be made, from 3M Healthcare
• Developing metrics for successful clinical outsourcing relationships, from Sanofi Pasteur
• Managing CRO partnerships in non-traditional markets, from AstraZeneca
• The business relationship as a driver of partnership success, from both Bayer Healthcare & Covance

Don't forget to register for our half day post-conference workshop on October 6, 2010 Mistakes in CRO selection: What goes wrong & how to solve these problems Hosted by Anne-Maria Ylisaari, Head of In-and-Outsourcing, Orion Pharma The aim of this workshop is to give participants a good understanding of the basis for successful