India's National Institute for Pharmaceutical Education and Research Hosts InnoCentive Conference

India's National Institute for Pharmaceutical Education and Research Hosts InnoCentive Conference

March 06, 2006

Leading Experts Present and Discuss Issues Affecting India's Burgeoning Pharmaceutical R&D Community

    CHANDIGARH, India, March 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
InnoCentive today announced that its annual conference was
held at the Indian government's National Institute for
Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), in
Chandigarh, Punjab, on Saturday, March 4, 2006.  This
year's event theme was, "InnoCentive Innovation
Series: Value Addition to Natural Products."  Five
prominent speakers from prestigious Indian universities and
institutes addressed the conference that was attended by
scientists, students and research firms from across the
country.

    (Photo:  NewsCom: 
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060306/SFM094
                      
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050919/SFM013 )

    Commenting on the successful event, Ali Hussein,
InnoCentive's chief marketing officer, vice president of
global markets, said, "Having India's prestigious
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Education and
Research agree to host this year's conference was a clear
statement of the importance that the Indian pharmaceutical
industry places on innovation and global collaboration,
both hallmarks of InnoCentive's business model." 
Hussein added, "We were also delighted to have the
strong support and active participation by some of India's
leading scholars in the pharmaceutical field, who shared
their knowledge on R&D issues affecting India's
pharmaceutical industry.

    Hussein addressed the conference along with Dr. P.
Ramarao, Professor, Director, NIPER; Dr. Bijoy Kundu,
deputy director, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, Central
Drug Research Institute, Lucknow; Dr. Virinder S. Parmar,
professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi;
Dr. G.N. Qazi, director, Regional Research Laboratory,
Jammu; Dr. Mukund K. Gurjar, deputy director, Division of
Organic Chemistry: Technology at the National Chemical
Laboratory, Pune; and Dr. K.K. Bhutani, dean, NIPER's
Department of Natural Products.

    Declared an "Institute of National
Importance" by the Indian government, NIPER is located
in the city of Chandigarh in India's Punjab province, and
was established as a center for advanced studies and
research for the pharmaceutical sciences.  NIPER operates
under the aegis of the Ministry of Chemicals and
Fertilizers.  The institute provides leadership for the
pharmaceutical sciences and related areas not only within
India, but also to countries in South East Asia, South Asia
and Africa.

    InnoCentive offers companies an opportunity to increase
their R&D potential by posting challenges to a
confidential online forum and gaining access to leading
scientific minds.  InnoCentive has developed a solid global
brand with their unique virtual R&D network of over
90,000 scientists spanning more than 175 countries that has
greatly helped companies reduce the escalating costs and
shorten the time required to bring products to market.
InnoCentive's goal is to further advance scientific
research and collaboration in worldwide markets.

    About InnoCentive

    InnoCentive is the first online forum that allows
world-class scientists and science-based companies to
collaborate in a global scientific community to achieve
innovative solutions to complex challenges.  Companies
including Boeing, Eli Lilly and Company, Procter &
Gamble and others, which collectively spend billions of
dollars on R&D, post scientific problems confidentially
on the InnoCentive Web site where more than 90,000
scientists and scientific organizations in more than 175
countries can solve them.  Scientists who deliver solutions
that best meet InnoCentive's challenge requirements receive
financial awards ranging up to and over $100,000.  To learn
more and to register as an InnoCentive Solver, visit the
InnoCentive Web site at http://www.innocentive.com.

    NOTE:  InnoCentive and InnoCentive Challenge are
registered trademarks of InnoCentive, Inc. Other product or
service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their
respective owners.

    For more information, please contact:
  
     Ali Hussein
     Chief Marketing Officer, Vice President of Global
Markets of InnoCentive
     Tel:   [phone]

     Micky Huang
     Tel:   [phone] ext.154, 
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  InnoCentive, Inc.