4th European Antibody Congress 2008: December 1-3, 2008, Geneva, Switzerland

Abstract

The Fourth European Antibody meeting, organized by Terrapin Ltd, was held in Geneva, a center of the European biopharmaceutical industry. Merck-Serono, NovImmune, Pierre Fabre, and Therapeomic are located nearby, as are R&D centers of Boehringer-Ingelheim, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi-Aventis. Over 40 speakers and more than 200 delegates attended the event. Companies represented included Abbott, Ablynx, Adnexus/ BMS, Astra-Zeneca/ CAT/ Medimmune, BiogenIdec, BioRad, Centocor (Johnson & Johnson), Crucell/ DSM, Domantis, Dyax, Genmab, Genzyme, Glycart/ Roche, Haptogen, Immunogen, Kyowa-Kirin, LFB, Medarex, Merck-Serono, Micromet, Novartis, Pierre Fabre Laboratories, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, Seattle-Genetics, Transgene, UCB Celltech, and Wyeth. Other attendees included those based in academe or government (University of Amsterdam, University of Zurich, Univeristy Hospital-Lyon, Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, INSERM, Tufts University, US National Institutes of Health), consultants, and patent attorneys (Edwards, Angell, Palmer & Dodge). The meeting was very interactive, and included exchanges during the many scheduled networking times (exhibitions, speed-networking, lunches, and evening receptions). The first day of the 3-day conference was dedicated to advances in understanding antibody structure-function relationships. Challenges and opportunities in antibody development were the focus of the second day, and the third day featured discussion of innovative antibodies and antibody alternatives.