Industry leaders at SAS Health Care & Life Sciences Executive Conference to discuss clinical trial design

CARY, NC (May 05, 2011) — Drug developers are challenged as never before to deliver innovative medicines through a business model that boosts the bottom line. Optimizing clinical trial design and portfolio management is paramount for managing outcomes and costs, and for rapidly advancing new drugs to the marketplace.

SAS, the leader in business analytics, Berry Consultants, Tessella and selected pharmaceutical industry executives will participate in a focus group to discuss clinical research best practices during the 8th Annual SAS Health Care & Life Sciences Executive Conference, May 11 and 12, in Cary, NC.

"Over the last five years or so the benefits of taking a Bayesian perspective in pharmaceutical development have become clear to industry, especially its suitability for building adaptive clinical trial designs," said Don Berry, founder and Senior Statistical Scientist, Berry Consultants. "Bringing adaptive designs and clinical trial simulation tools to the research community via SAS® software will revolutionize drug and medical device development."

Berry Consultants is an independent statistical consulting group specializing in adaptive clinical trial design in pharmaceutical and medical device research and development. As a leader in the Bayesian approach to medical statistics, Berry Consultants is helping change the way research is done throughout the medical device and drug development industries. Tessella is an international provider of science-powered technology and consulting services and has experience implementing adaptive clinical trials.

"Improving the efficiency of clinical trial operations and decreasing the late attrition rate are two major objectives in the drive to bring down drug/device development costs," said Anne Wiles, Advisory Industry Consultant, SAS. "The widespread implementation of clinical trial simulation software and the ability to design and execute adaptive clinical trials are critical factors in achieving these objectives."

About SAS in Health Analytics

SAS is the industry leader in health analytics software and services, delivering best-in-class solutions for improving medical care, strengthening financial performance, deepening customer relationships, and pursuing medical innovations. All of the top 25 health plans and pharmaceutical companies depend on SAS for strategic insights into health outcomes, profitability, and customer preferences and behaviors that produce useful intelligence for business transformation and growth.

About SAS

SAS is the leader in business analytics software and services, and the largest independent vendor in the business intelligence market. Through innovative solutions delivered within an integrated framework, SAS helps customers at more than 50,000 sites improve performance and deliver value by making better decisions faster. Since 1976 SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know®.