The fourth edition of a report on current medicines development research in the UK, commissioned by the ABPI to update the third edition which I prepared for them in 2002. The report brings together information received from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as data from a variety of sources in the public domain, providing a comprehensive overview of medicines research and its importance for this country.

The 137-page report, with an extended introduction to trends and statistics on current pharmaceutical research in this country and the conduct of clinical trials, features sections highlighting current treatments and development projects in 45 therapeutic categories. It was launched in April 2007.

The “Target” series of booklets, produced by the ABPI for more than a decade, covers a wide range of medical conditions. Each describes the underlying disease state and its diagnosis, and presents information on current medicines and those in development for its treatment. Since 2005 I have written booklets in this series that cover the areas of:

• Diabetes
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• Depression
• Obesity and
• Multiple Sclerosis.

A new international monograph was required for this leading hepatitis vaccine from GSK Biologicals in Rixensart, Belgium, incorporating information on paediatric as well as adult dose forms and adding new data from clinical publications accumulated since product launch.

A draft in page-layout form with embedded graphics and thumbnail images was provided five weeks after receipt of authorisation to proceed. New publications cited included, in addition to those provided by the company, extra references identified through online searching. Final text was supplied in electronic form for setting by an external design agency.