The First EFMC Short Course on Medicinal Chemistry – Improving Compound Quality was held in Oegstgeest, The Netherlands from March 22-25, 2009 and was organised by Henk Timmerman and Han Van den Waterbeemd. The course was of high quality and the feedback from the 36 participants was very positive. The executive committee and council decided to organize a second short course in 2010. The organization will be done by the Education & Training Committee.
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The council in Budapest decided to establish two new EFMC prizes. One for a Young European Medicinal Chemist in Industry and a similar one for a Young European Medicinal Chemist in Academia. Official announcements for these prizes will be send out later.
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The president Gerhard Ecker proposed to establish an EFMC Advisory Board to advise EFMC on strategic decisions. This board will be chaired by Roberto Pellicciari and will furthermore consist of Peter Ettmayer, Giovanni Gaviraghi, Povl Krogsgaard-Larsen, Christian Noe, Ferran Sanz and Henk Timmerman.
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On proposal of the Industry Liaison Committee the council decided on new procedures and benefits for Corporate Members. More information will follow on the website.
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At the council meeting in Budapest, the highly successful outcome of ISMC 2008 in Vienna was presented by Peter Ettmayer, Chair of the Organizing Committee.
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The Industrial Liaison Committee is focussed on developing strong links between the EFMC and the industrial medicinal chemistry community. The team comprises the following members:
- Mark Bunnage - Chair (EFMC EC Member, Pfizer, UK)
- Javier Fernandez (EFMC EC Member, J&J, Spain)
- Graeme Robertson (Siena Biotech, Italy)
- Brigitte Lesur (Servier, France)
- Dave Alker (Independent Consultant, UK)
The committee has recently taken a fresh look at the conditions for corporate membership of the EFMC and has significantly re-vamped the range of benefits available to companies that become corporate members. Any companies interested in becoming corporate members are requested to contact administration@efmc.info for further details. In addition, the committee are now looking at ways to support the broader medicinal chemistry community in Europe through a number of new initiatives. For example, plans are in development to hold a major careers event as part of the ISMC meeting in Brussels next year. In addition, the committee are also now planning to launch a new EFMC prize for the "Young Industrial Medicinal Chemist in Europe". This prestigious prize will be awarded annually and presented to the recipient at one of the major EFMC meetings. Full details of the prize, and the applications procedure, will be included in the next issue of MedChemWatch.
By Mark Bunnage
