NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN TRANSLATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE SOCIETY FOR MEDICINES RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM, HELD ON MARCH 17, 2016-ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE, LONDON, UK

An area of drug discovery and development that has seen a great increase in focus in recent years has been the need for more translational approaches in many if not all therapeutic areas. This has stemmed from the increasing appreciation that many of the cellular and animal models, traditionally used for the assessment of efficacy, have limited predictive validity to the human diseases we are trying to treat. This 1-day Society for Medicines Research Symposium hosted by Transpharmation Ltd at the Royal Veterinary College, London, U.K. and sponsored by Pharmidex Ltd was organized by Lee Dawson, Wendy Alderton, Mo Alavijeh and Peter Weber. The meeting brought together experts from a variety of imaging and preclinical model backgrounds across a range of diseases to discuss how the drug discovery community can better target disease processes, more optimally test novel therapeutics in appropriate populations and ultimately enhance clinical success in producing efficacious therapeutics for patients.