PharmaProcess Forum, the first forum held on the subject in Europe, has established an advisory council, the International Advisory Board (IAB), made up of six major representatives of the international pharmaceutical industry, who will collaborate with the organisers in the selection of scientific content for the forum, which is set to hold its second edition in October 2015 at the Palacio de Congresos of the Montjuïc venue.

The PharmaProcess International Advisory Board held its first meeting in Barcelona to get underway with the design of the format and scientific content of the forum, and was attended by forum president, Ton Capella; director, Pilar Navarro; and scientific committee coordinator Santi Alsina.

The International Advisory Board is made up of:

Frans Maas, vice president of GEA Pharma Systems (Belgium)

Koji Kawasaki, president of AIREX (Japan)

Antonio Buendía, head of Manufacturing Process Control at NOVARTIS (Switzerland)

Daniel Lachapelle, president of the Processes and Industry Division of FOSTER WHEELER (Canada)

Norm Medeiros, executive director of SANOFI PASTEUR (USA)

Raúl Díaz Varela, vice president of INDUKERN Group (Spain)

The members of the IAB consider Barcelona to be the ideal place for a ‘global pharmaceutical industry event', according to Daniel Lachapelle. For Lachapelle, therefore, ‘it is essential to have a high-level international scientific programme'. Norman Medeiros stressed that ‘it is very important to combine the commercial and congressional aspects'. In this respect, Frans Maas stated that the pharmaceutical sector requires ‘a global vision' that deals with all the elements in its value chain from ‘the initial process to regulatory issues'. For his part, president Ton Capella is of the opinion that ‘the Barcelona brand and the expertise of Fira de Barcelona' will enable PharmaProcess to become ‘a global forum in the not-too-distant future'.

Along with the IAB, PharmaProcess Forum has the organisational support of its scientific committee, made up of national industry professionals and members of Pharmaceutical Licensing Group Spain (PLGS), an association that brings together and supports those who work in business development, licensing and strategic planning in the Spanish pharmaceutical and biotech industry.

PharmaProcess Forum 2015 is organised in three areas: Development, Business Development and Operations, with Biopharmatech as a common subject matter, in which new pharmaceutical products born of biotechnology will be the topic of debate.

Barcelona, 19th November 2014

Eduard Pérez Moya
(+34) 93 233 21 66
eperezm@firabarcelona.com