(Durham, N.C.) Health Decisions (www.HealthDec.com), a full-service clinical research organization (CRO) specializing in high-efficiency adaptive methods, will explore the value of adaptive techniques to personalized medicine—one of the most important entrepreneurial and venture opportunities in drug development—at the CED 2010 Biotech Conference.

Health Decisions president and CEO Michael Rosenberg will join an expert panel February 23 in Raleigh to present Opportunities in Personalized Medicine. The session will cover the implications of the industry’s rapid shift toward molecular and genomic testing and how entrepreneurs, investors, and drug development veterans can leverage these changes to make smart business decisions and improve global health.

According to Rosenberg, the industry’s ability to prosper from opportunities in personalized medicine hinges on advancements in adaptive clinical research. ”One of the main obstacles to pursuing personalized medicine is that smaller, more individualized populations can seem financially unattractive compared to the huge blockbuster patient pools to which investors have grown accustomed,” said Rosenberg. “Applying adaptive principles to study design as well as day-to-day operations presents an immediate promise of dramatically faster, more efficient development pathways. When these small trials for individualized treatments accrue less waste, they suddenly become less risky, more viable investment targets.”

In addition to Dr. Rosenberg’s discussion of adaptive methods, Opportunities in Personalized Medicine will feature presentations from Patrick F. Terry, co-founder of Genomic Health, and Linda Harpole, VP of Global Health Outcomes at GlaxoSmithKline.

Opportunities in Personalized Medicine takes place Tuesday, February 23 from 11:45 – 1:00 p.m. EST at the Raleigh Convention Center. To view the CED Biotech 2010 Conference agenda, please visit http://cednc.org/content/agenda/375.

Health Decisions (www.HealthDec.com) is a global clinical research organization (CRO) committed to helping drug and device companies achieve greater success. Our sponsors rely on us to help them prove the value of their pipelines both faster and with the smartest possible allocation of funds. Through Agile Clinical Development—a strategic combination of adaptive design and adaptive operations—Health Decisions optimizes every facet of clinical research from design protocol to the most detailed day-to-day management, so sponsors can make the most of competitive market opportunities.

Health Decisions is headquartered in Durham, NC, with over twenty years of experience helping sponsors achieve success in Phase I-IV trials across all major therapy areas. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.HealthDec.com.

CED’s annual Biotech Conference (www.cednc.org/content/biotech+conference/345) unites the Southeast life science community to celebrate one of the biotech industry’s most dynamic regions. This two-day conference includes world-class speakers, a variety of panels on industry topics and trends, and networking opportunities with life science leaders. Join industry executives, including the region’s most innovative biotech entrepreneurs, major pharmaceutical companies, research leaders, policy makers and nationally prominent investors at the Southeast’s premier life science event - CED’s Biotech 2010 Conference.

Now in its 19th year, the Biotech 2010 conference will provide opportunities to learn about global health, personalized medicine, the current funding environment and more. Hear from renowned life science CEOs on new opportunities during changing times and gain insight from industry innovators, thought leaders and policy makers.

CED (www.cednc.org), formerly The Council for Entrepreneurial Development, was founded in 1984 to identify, enable and promote high-growth, high-impact companies and accelerate the entrepreneurial culture of the Research Triangle and North Carolina. CED provides education, mentoring and capital formation resources to new and existing high-growth entrepreneurs through annual conferences, seminars, workshops and programs on entrepreneurial management and finance.  CED has helped entrepreneurs in a myriad of industries and at all stages of development – from high-tech, life sciences, and service companies, from one-person start-ups to 1000-person businesses.  With more than 5,500 active members representing over 1,100 companies, CED is the largest entrepreneurial support organization of its kind in the United States.