EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J., Sept. 13, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Phase IV studies are continuing to increase and based on a Tufts study, 73% of recent new drug approvals received FDA requests for post-marketing studies. The median cost of conducting these studies are also skyrocketing. Another costly and critical factor in conducting clinical trials, Phase I-IV, is the patient and investigator recruitment area which is one the most time consuming and difficult tasks within drug development.

These issues will be addressed at Strategic Research Institute's Phase IV Clinical Trials with special sessions on patient/ investigator recruitment and retention on October 23-24, 2006 at the Hilton East Brunswick in East Brunswick, NJ. Craig Eagle, M.D., Senior Director, Head of World Wide Medical Oncology at Pfizer, will deliver the keynote presentation titled "Phase IV and Beyond: What is Being Explored?"

Some additional featured topics include:

 -- The Importance of PMCs
 -- Selecting and Qualifying Investigators
 -- Developing Strategies for the Measurement of Patient Reported
    Outcomes (PROs)
 -- Key Drivers & Growth Opportunities in Phase IV Trials
 -- Patient Recruitment and Retention: Challenges and Opportunities
 -- Effective Use of Technology for Data Collection and Analysis
 -- Optimizing Your Post-Marketing Research -- How to Align the
    Interests of Multiple Stakeholders

This summit brings together a plethora of top level executives that will discuss the current issues and trends of today. The complete list of participating companies and institutions include: Abbott; AstraZeneca; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Edwards Lifesciences; Galt Associates; GlaxoSmithKline; King Pharmaceuticals; Merck; Ortho-McNeil; Pfizer; Scirex; Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America; The Center for Info & Study on Clinical Research Participation.

This conference will be held concurrently with two other conferences, Strategic Clinical Outsourcing and Clinical Data Management, and each attendee may customize their participation by attending, at any time, any sessions of any of the concurrent tracks. These conferences are part of the Clinical Drug Development Summit which is 3 conferences in 1. The Phase IV Clinical Trials conference website is www.srinstitute.com/pct and the Clinical Drug Development Summit website is www.srinstitute.com/cdds.

To receive the full agenda in PDF, register, or information on becoming a media partner or sponsor/ exhibitor, please contact Amy Yueh of Strategic Research Institute at ayueh@srinstitute.com or 212-967-0095, x258.

Strategic Research Institute http://www.srinstitute.com