Pain Therapeutics – SMi conference, London, UK, 11-12 June 2003

Investigational Drugs Database, 18 June 2003
A recurring theme throughout the presentations at this conference was the scale of the unmet need in pain therapeutics and the significant sales potential for future therapeutics, both of which will ensure that this remains a hot topic for the foreseeable future. Intensive research is being carried out by many organisations both to characterise and exploit new targets, and to optimise current therapeutics, which was reflected in the extent and quality of the presentations at this conference. The importance of the pain therapeutic area was nicely encapsulated by Katherine Walker (Purdue Pharma LP, USA) with the statement “the reason that people do not function is almost entirely due to pain”.