University of Reims-Champagne-Ardenne, its Faculty of Pharmacy and the ‘Institut de Chimie Moléculaire de Reims (ICMR)’ have the honour of hosting the 46th International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry (RICT 2010) between 30th June and 2nd July 2010.

This prestigious scientific meeting covers the major aspects of medicinal chemistry with particular emphasis on the importance of chemical biology in modern drug discovery. The scientific programme, which will include over 20 plenary lectures by internationally well-known scientists, focuses on recent achievements in

- Target Selection and Validation for Drug Discovery - Chemical Biology,
- Hit-to-lead: Identification, Selection, Development, 
- Case-studies: from Bench to Bedside,
- Physico-Chemical Tools and Structural Studies,
- Synthetic Chemistry: New Frontiers Impacting Drug Discovery.

The scientific committee ensures the high quality and diversity of the scientific programme together with the accessibility of the meeting to MSc and PhD students. For the latter, an advantageous registration fee will be proposed. Moreover, a special career session will be organised with industrial and academic participants.

During the meeting the traditional prizes (P. Ehrlich Lecture Award and C. Mentzer Prize) of the ‘Société de Chimie Thérapeutique’ will be awarded to researchers or research teams for their outstanding contributions to medicinal chemistry. In addition, a poster session will provide the opportunity for all participants to present their current results. A “best poster” prize will also be attributed.

Reims is situated in the Champagne region (160 km north-east of Paris) on the cross-road of five motorways. The two thousand year old history of Reims goes back to Gallo-Roman times. It was the coronation city of French kings and the cradle of the world famous Champagne wine. Four of its historical monuments figure on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Reims is directly accessible by TGV from main regional capitals of France (Lille:1h30; Strasbourg: 2h; Bordeaux: 4h40; Nantes: 3h25) and from abroad (London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Munich, Zürich) via Paris. Its proximity to Paris (TGV 0H45) provides an easy access to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle (direct TGV connection: 0h30) and Orly airports.