First regional BioCamp in the Alpe-Adria region – excellent opportunity for top students to meet science and business

“I believe that this regional BioCamp, organized by Sandoz here in Slovenia, provides a unique opportunity to hear from leading experts in the scientific field, while getting to know new colleagues and building important new relationships,” said University of Ljubljana Chancellor Dr. Radovan Stanislav Pejovnik.

Vojmir Urlep, President of the Lek Management Board, discussed the current state of the global generic pharmaceuticals industry with the BioCamp participants, who have come from Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Austria and Italy. He commented on the increasing consolidation of the industry in recent years, and how already in 2010 only three pharmaceutical companies held 25% of the global market: Teva (12%), Sandoz (8%) and Mylan (5%). “In the coming years, the healthcare field will continue to face two key trends: lowering healthcare costs in OECD countries and increasing access to medicines in developing countries. These trends will lead to continued growth of the global generics industry and particularly in developing markets,” said Urlep.

Prof. Dr. Uroš Urleb, Chief Scientific Officer at Sandoz, further presented key development trends in the generics industry. He explained how development is one of the key drivers of the industry’s success and progress as well as its role at Sandoz, the pioneer and global leader in biosimilars and complex, differentiated generic medicines. He also clearly defined the role that Slovenian knowledge has played in achieving these successes: “Sandoz’s development centers in Slovenia play a key development role within the Sandoz global network. A significant portion of the company’s development projects are carried out in Slovenia, and include some of the company’s most technologically demanding. For example, one of Sandoz’s three main biopharmaceuticals development and production centers is in Mengeš. None of this would be possible without the long-term close collaboration with Slovenian scientific institutions and universities.”

Dr. Mark A. McCamish, Global Head of Biopharmaceutical Development at Sandoz, spoke about his experiences in the field of biosimilars development, while leading Novartis scientist Dr. Murat Acemoglu discussed new findings in efficient enantioselective synthesis. Dr. Roman Jerala, one of Slovenia’s top researchers and internationally recognized experts, who holds the positions of Head of the Biotechnology Laboratory at the Slovenian National Institute of Chemistry, Professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana, and Director of Research in Synthetic Biology at the EN-FIST Center of Excellence, next spoke to participants about the most recent achievements in synthetic biology.

Dr. Jerala is also a key advocate of the need for high-quality and efficient cooperation between academia and the business world, such as represented by the regional BioCamp.
Prof. Dr. Irena Mlinarič-Raščan, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Ljubljana, highlighted the importance of knowledge in the overall development of society, drawing upon her many experiences in various international projects focused on promoting cooperation between science and business, as well as the field of international student cooperation. Dr. Enej Kuščer, Director of the Acies Bio company, ended the morning section of the first day, by talking about his experiences in founding a biotech company.

During the second day of the regional BioCamp 2011 program, participants will have an opportunity to enter a competition with a case study on “how to develop and launch a pharmaceutical product”, after which they will tour Sandoz’s development centers in Ljubljana and Mengeš, and learn about career development opportunities. The latter will be presented by Samo Roš, Head of Human Resources and member of the Lek Management Board, and Dr. Janja Lukša, Head of Sandoz Development Center Austria.

“Sandoz in Slovenia takes its corporate citizenship seriously. While providing top Slovenian professionals with challenging employment opportunities at home, we also allow them to develop their careers internationally within a global company. At the same time, we also attract industry leading foreign professionals here in Slovenia”, said Dr. Lukša. Samo Roš added: “After meeting each of the participants this morning, and seeing their response and participation in the program, it is clear that we have gathered a group of truly promising young professionals, whom we should definitely expect to read about in the future.”

• More about the Regional BioCamp 2011