GD - Publications 2000

December 2000	GD extends Event Program
September 2000	GD Department Dermatotherapy has been established
May 2000	GD Homepage — A portal to a network of dermopharmaceutic information
February 2000	GD-sounds at the Konzerthaus, Freiburg

December 2000

GD extends Event Program

Two supraregional Conferences in the Year 2001

Next year the GD Gesellschaft für Dermopharmazie e.V. (Society for Dermopharmacy) will for the first time organize two conferences of supraregional significance. Besides the 5th annual meeting in Zurich on 28 March 2001 a scientific symposium relating to the subject "Effects of Dermocosmetics" will be additionally arranged by the society in Düsseldorf on 17 October. Both events will be accompanied by the GD's experienced public relations work. Furthermore, they will offer the possibility for an interdisciplinary exchange of ideas by physicians, pharmacists and other experts interested in dermopharmacy.

As a sign of the society's international orientation the annual meeting of the GD will take place in Zurich the first time abroad. The GD has got several ordinary and two sponsoring members from Switzerland in the meantime. The University Zurich rich in tradition located in the heart of the town provides an adequate background for the conference. In addition, Zurich being an important media location, offers the optimal basis for an efficient public relation work.

The conference program can be looked up in the GD internet homepage (www.gd.online.de). It reflects the GD's widespread spectrum of subjects with lectures from the fields of dermopharmaceutic chemistry, pharmaceutic technology and biopharmacy, dermocosmetics as well as dermatopharmacology and -therapy. The scientific conference head is lecturer Dr. Christian Surber from the Institut für Spitalpharmazie (Institute for Clinical Pharmacy) at the Kantonsspital (Canton Clinic) Basle. On the day before the annual meeting, department meetings and the ordinary general meeting including the board elections will be held.

The program of the dermocosmetic symposium will shortly be published and can later on equally be looked up in the GD homepage. In the course of this event experts from universities, the health authority, cosmetical industry and contract research organizatons will give lectures about the following subject priorities:

	New trends in dermocosmetics
	New methods of animal-experiment-free cosmetic testing
	Starting points for the effectiveness of repair preparations for the epidermal barrier, repair preparations against photoageing, remedies against hair loss and hair conditioning preparations
	Test strategies for preparations against dry skin and skin ageing
	Rationals and practice of biosensorics and biophotonics
	Cosmetical active substance and their formulation

An early enrolment for both events is appreciated. Application documents can shortly be downloaded from the internet or requested from the GD offices.

Successful Public Relation Work

The GD's public relation work has become a remarkable quality characteristic of the society. Thus for example more than ten million interested parties have been reached by the GD's public relation work by announcements and reports in broadcasting and television transmissions, specialized magazines and other print media on the occasion of the annual meeting in Freiburg this year.

A frequently used source for dermopharmaceutical information is the GD homepage available in German and English language. Ever since the homepage has been subject to analysis by international search machines on a regular basis, a rapid development relating to the flood of callers and information inquiries has been initiated. More than 3000 callers have looked up the GD homepage and retrieved more than 15.000 pages in the last six months. The websides containing press texts and abstracts of the annual meeting 2000 as well as scientific original reports published by GD members have been of particular interest. This very satisfactory development encourages the GD to further extend its webside as a portal for dermopharmaceutic subjects.

The linkage of the GD homepage with the online versions of specialized magazines equally belongs to this objective. This concept has already been implemented for the expert magazine Skin Care Forum in the beginning of this year and recently also for the GD own scientific journal DermoTopics. The first edition of the print version of DermoTopics has been published end of October and has been very well received by its target group the dermatologists. Starting next year DermoTopics will come out four times a year.

Dr. Joachim Kresken, President of the GD (December 2000)

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September 2000

GD Department Dermatotherapy — Working Priorities of Interdisciplinary Importance

After the departments Dermocosmetics, Extemporaneous Preparations, Dermatopharmacology already acting since 1997, the recently established department Dermatotherapy of the Gesellschaft für Dermopharmazie (GD) [Society for Dermopharmacy] has assumed its tasks. This department will equally treat subjects of interdisciplinary importance in the sense of the GD's interdisciplinary character. Among these subjects there is pharmaco-economy in the field of dermatotheraphy, the methodology of patient-information and -consultation as well as the securing of the clinical effectiveness of "orphaned" dermatological active substances (orphan drugs).

After the ordinary general meeting of the GD has come to the decision in Berlin last year to establish the department Dermatotherapy, the constituent assembly has now taken place on inititiative of the managing committee. For this purpose 17 ordinary members met on the occasion of the dermatologic training in Munich end of July. In addition, several representatives of the GD's sponsoring members as well as a representative of the Berufsverband der Deutschen Dermatologen (Professional Association of the German Dermatologists) took part in the first meeting. Topics of the agenda have been the discussion and definition of future main points of activity as well as the election of the department head and his deputy.

Dermatologist Dr. Matthias Augustin, assistant medical director at the Universitäts-Hautklinik Freiburg (University Dermatology Clinic) has been elected department head. He is considered to be an expert in the field of pharmaco-economy within the dermatotherapy. Dr. Burkhard Kleuser of the department Pharmacy of the Freie Universiät Berlin (Free University) as well as the graduate ecotrophologist Anne Kilburg of the Institut für empirische Gesundheitsökonomie Burscheid (Institute for Empirical Sanitary Economy), two non-physicians will assist him in their function as vice-department heads. A third deputy which is planned to come from the sector of the pharmaceutical industry is still searched for.

Pharmaco-economy in the Dermatotherapy

When defining its main fields of activity the department attaches great importance not to bring about a competitive situation in relation to the Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft (DDG) [German Dermatologic Society] with which the GD pursues a cooperation on a formal basis. As Dr. Augustin emphasized, the GD's planned commitment in the field of pharmaco-economy finds the explicit approval of the DDG's managing committee. Augustin expressed his thanks to the GD that they are prepared to take this still young partial sector of dermatotherapy marked by interdisciplinarity into consideration in their spectrum of subjects in future.

Pharmaco-economy - as part of sanitary economy - deals with the investigation of economic efficiency of drugs and therapy treatments. In view of the fact that the resources in the sanitary sector run short, it has to be reckoned with a steadily increasing influence of the findings of these investigations regarding the drug selection in the field of dermatology in future. The GD department therefore intends to coordinate the scientific activities in this field and spread latest findings about this subject for the benefit of the expert and the general public. For the realization of the last-mentionend objective the well-known Freiburg symposium regarding the sanitary economy in the dermatology which has been organised twice in self-initiative so far by the Freiburg Skin Clinic is to take place every second year starting from the year 2002 in the course of the GD's Annual Meetings and is planned to be integrated in the GD's public relations.

Offers for Physicians and Pharmacists

Besides the pharmaco-economy, subjects in the department work will also be dealt with which are of particular interest for pharmacists working at the pharmacy laboratory and dermatologists in practice. The department offers the professional organisations of pharmacists to give support as to development and practical realization of models for the pharmaceutical care of patients suffering from skin diseases. Furthermore, the possibilities and limitations for self-medication of frequently experienced dermatoses are to be defined for the benefit of pharmacists' orientation.

The planned treatment of the "orphan drugs" is intended to be an assistance for dermatologists.The department will make a strong effort that those active substances which are for instance used in dermatologic "niche indications" and are regarded there as indispensable, should be preserved for therapy. For this purpose controlled clinical studies in the sense of an evidence-based medicine should be initiated (orphan studies). Furhtermore, it is taken in consideration to check certain dermatologic therapy procedures in intervention studies.

A special matter of concern of the department is the promotion of cooperation of physician and pharmacist in the field of patient information. For this objective interdisciplinary concepts qualified to consensus will be elaborated which ensure that the patient is not given any contradictory information about the skin pharmaca he has to apply. In this project the pharmaceutical industry concerned and possibly other associations (e.g. self-help groups and consumer associations) responsible for patient information should be included. The department Dermatotherapy - as other GD departments - is open to all ordinary members for an active cooperation . Whoever would like to cooperate or can make contributions for the departmental work should get in contact with the GD offices Eschborn.

Dr. Joachim Kresken , chairman of the GD (September 2000)

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GD Homepage — A portal to a network of dermopharmaceutic information

An essential objective of the Gesellschaft für Dermopharmazie (Society for Dermopharmacy) is the spreading of latest dermopharmaceutic findings for the benefit of the expert public and the general public. In order to achieve this objective, the GD intends to also make more intense use of the Internet. Its homepage (www.gd-online.de) is to become the portal to a network of dermopharmaceutic information. Furthermore, the GD will publish an own dermopharmaceutic scientific journal before long. The managing committee informed about this and other projects at this year’s ordinary general meeting in Freiburg on 23 May 2000.

The general meeting entrusted the managing committee in Berlin in June last year with the task to set up a GD-own business enterprise in the legal form of a private limited company. It was founded on 12 December 1999 and a registration into the commercial register under the company name ”ID-Institute for Dermopharmacy GmbH” has been made. Its task is to promote the concept of dermopharmaceutic subjects in the general public and among experts in the sense of the GD society statutes.

The GD managing committee members Dr. Siegfried Wallat and Dr. Joachim Kresken have been appointed managing directors of the private limited company. Members of the executive committee are represented in the advisory board. The first specific projects assigned to the private limited company are the organisation of the annual meeting in Freiburg, the fostering and further development of the GD’s Internet performance as well as the publishing function for the edition of a dermopharmaceutic scientific journal.

Scientific journal ”DermoTopics”

Until today there is no professional journal dealing with dermopharmaceutic topics as main point of emphasis. The GD will fill this gap by publishing an individual scientific journal specifically tailored to the interests of dermatologists as completion to its present information bulletins, Pharmaceutical Journal and Eurocosmetics.

The titel of this journal will be ”DermoTopics”. An application for the title as a make has been filed. DermoTopics will be published four times a year both as print version and as online-version in the Internet. For the print version in German a circulation of 4.000 issues is planned and will be sent to all dermatologists working at clinics and practices in Germany as well as to GD members on a regular basis. The first issue will be published in the beginning of October of this year and inform as main stress about the lecture subjects of the GD’s 4th annual meeting in Freiburg.

The online-version of DermoTopics is to be understood as a supplement to the print version and will have extensive search- and archive-functions. It will be published in German and English language as well. The Internet access will be possible by using its own domain name (www.dermotopics.de) and in addition by the GD homepage.

Further development of the GD homepage

The GD homepage existing since the middle of last year is to become the portal in the medium-term to a network of dermopharmaceutic information. Up to now more than 1.000 DIN A4-pages with GD-own information have been placed in the GD homepage. This includes the lecture summaries, press releases and press photos regarding the 4th annual meeting in Freiburg.

At the beginning of this year, the GD homepage was published in a new outlook. Furthermore, the provider has been exchanged due to technical difficulties. In compliance with the GD’s international demands extensive information is available in German and besides in English. Within these two languages all terms can be found in the respective language by using the search function. The page titles found are indicated which contain the term searched for. Then on these pages the terms searched for can be found in the context by making use of the browsers (Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator).

The GD equally intends to generate direct access possibilities to online publications of other institutions by means of the GD homepage for a further expansion of its information network. In the meantime the GD has found a first sponsor for this concept via its business enterprise. On behalf of Cognis Deutschland GmbH, a sponsoring member of the GD, an online-version has been established for the journal Skin Care Forum and following a link of their homepage to the GD homepage has been generated. Similar cooperations are aimed at with other supporting members.

Reports from the departments

The department reports presented at the ordinary general meeting have been inserted to the GD homepage. Following the departments Dermocosmetics, Extemporaneous Preparations and Dermatopharmacology, the newly founded department Dermatotherapy has now been constituted in Freiburg. We will report in short about the department’s working priorities.

The outstanding working result of the department Extemporaneous Preparations was the publication of hygiene guidelines for the preparation of non-sterile pharmaceutic products in pharmacies last year. The department Dermocosmetics has adopted the revised version of guidelines already published last year under the title ”Dermocosmetics for the dry skin care”. In addition, the preparations for the guidelines ”Dermocosmetics for the cleansing of dry skin” have been started. It is planned to publish these guidelines in automn of this year. The department Dermatopharmacology continues the establishing of a catalogue of dermatopharmacological methods as first priority.

Dr. Joachim Kresken, chairman of the GD

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4th Annual Meeting of the Gesellschaft für Dermopharmazie (GD) on 23 and 24 May 2000

The Konzerthaus Freiburg is an attractive event locality to house the GD's 4th annual meeting. The conference program (in German) consists of three workshops, a basic lecture, 13 lectures held by experts and a satellite symposium. The subjects dealt with reflect the GD’s entire field of activity. The conference is organized by the Institute for Dermopharmacy GmbH (ID), the GD’s recently founded business enterprise.

The schedule on 23 May will be arranged by the GD departments. A workshop organized by the department Extemporaneous Preparations about dermatological ”niche medicaments” and prescriptions at the limit of the freedom in therapy from 13.00 to 14.30 hours will start the conference. The department Dermocosmetics will organize a workshop about current cosmetical active substances for the protection against skin ageing from 14.45 to 16.15 hours. An additional workshop will take place parallel from 13.00 to 14.30 hours.This workshop treats pharma-economical questions within the field of dermatotherapy. Following this workshop, the constituent assembly of the new department Dermatotherapy will be held. The first day will be completed by the GD’s ordinary general meeting at 16.30 hours and an evening event at the Restaurant Greiffengg-Schlössle located at the Freiburg Schlossberg.

Widespread series of lectures

The lecture program offered on 24 May lasts from 10.00 to 16.45 hours. It begins with a basic lecture by professor Dr. Erich Schöpf, the president of the Deutsche Dermatologische Gesellschaft (German Dermatological Society) concerning the significance of dermopharmacy for the dermatologist in clinic and practice. The following specialist lectures by speakers from universities, the industry and the Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte (Federal Institute for Drugs and Medicinal Products) treat the following subject-matters:

Computer-Aided Drug Design in Dermatology
Tacrolimus in the treatment of the atopical dermatitis
Significance of multilamellar membranes in the penetration analysis of topics
Pharmacological effects of the androgenic metabolism in skin
Kinetics and dynamics of Econazol in liposomal medicaments for topical applications
Systematically toxicological assessment of new cosmetic active substances
Follicular ceratolysis as cosmetical efficacy principle
Skin cleansers for the removal of heavy soiling
Development of a skin protective with a new type of active substance complex
Basic principles of the dermatics registration in Europe
PUVA-therapy
Patient management for the atopical eczema
New topical therapy of the androgenetic alopecia

Concluding the annual meeting, the firm Galderma Laboratorium GmbH will arrange a satellite symposium giving a portrait of the tanning agent Tamol used in the field of dermatotherapy from 17.00 to 18.30 hours.

In addition, Galderma will organize a guided sight-seeing tour of Freiburg for escorts in the afternoon of 24 May 2000.

The complete program of the annual meeting as well as an application form have been placed in the Internet and can be retrieved under the reshaped GD hompepage. Alternatively, the conference records can be asked for at the GD offices in Eschborn. The organization of the annual meeting has been supported by several promoting members of the GD (please refer to large box). The organizers express their sincere thanks to the sponsors for their generous commitment.

Dr. Joachim Kresken, chairman of the Society for Dermopharmacy

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