Macto Consulting Announces Panel for Cardiovascular Safety Workshop

LONDON -

- Speakers to Discuss Automatic ECG Analysis for TQT Studies, Thorough Blood Pressure Studies and Feasibility of ‘Thoroughs’ for all Biomarkers in this Not-for-Profit Industry Gathering

Macto Consulting, a London-based provider of market research and consultancy services for companies in the clinical research and development sector, today announced the speakers for Macto’s Cardiovascular Safety Workshop, scheduled for Monday October 12th, 2009 at Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.

Confirmed speakers include:

- Dr. Luc Hondeghem, Professor of Pharmacology at the Catholic University - Dr. Norman Stockbridge, Director of the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal products within the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - Dr. Corina Dota, ECG Centre Director and Co-chair of the QT/Arrhythmia Safety Knowledge Group, from AstraZeneca - Dr. William Wheeler, Global Medical Director, MDS Pharma Services Inc. - Dr. Ihor Gussak, Chief Medical Officer of NewCardio, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: NWCI) - Dr. Boaz Mendzelevski, Consultant Medical Director to Medifacts Inc. and Cardiac Safety Consultants Ltd - Dr Egon Toft, University Aalborg, Denmark - Dr. Anton Khawaja, Biosigna GmbH

John Sulola, Managing Director of Macto Consulting, said “We are pleased that we have been able to announce such an experienced group of experts for our new non-profit workshop. The support from the industry has been excellent and we have the majority of the 20 free delegate passes registered to members of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. In addition, we believe that our interactive round table format will allow real interaction, critical analysis and future follow up discussions between all the major actors within this sector. The aim of our new format is to facilitate the analysis of current scientific ideas and technologies that provide real benefit to cardiovascular safety in clinical development. We also aim to ensure that conclusions can be followed up and their practical value to clinical development assessed in future workshops.”

About The Cardiovascular Safety Workshop

The workshop is designed to discuss automated ECG analysis in Thorough QT (TQT) studies, in light of comments made by Dr. Stockbridge at the April, 2009 DIA conference, when he indicated that automatic analysis of ECG for TQT studies could be acceptable.

Scheduled topics include: - How do the automated methodologies compare? - Are they validated? - When would they be acceptable to the regulatory authorities? - What are the implications for your TQT study design and overall clinical programme?

The workshop will also discuss: - Thorough Blood Pressure Studies, will these be part of clinical development? - Is it good science that all biomarkers undergo such “thorough”studies?

About Macto Consulting

Macto Consulting Limited was founded in 2005. Our unique understanding of the Contract Research Organisations (CROs) and in particular, our expertise within the Cardiac Safety Services sector has enabled us to become an established provider of market research and consultancy services. Macto has built up a professional and experienced team of both internal and external consultants. We combine an experienced understanding of your business and market environment, with complementary market research that helps define your strategic vision and adds value to your business. Our current clients list ranges from large and small CRO companies based in Europe and the USA. For more detailed information about how we can support your business using our market research and consultancy services contact us via our website www.mactoconsulting.com.

Source: Macto Consulting

John Sulola of Macto Consulting, John.Sulola at MactoConsulting.com