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BioSpain

September 26-28, 2023 | Barcelona, Spain

We are excited to announce that we will attend, speak at, and sponsor BioSpain. BioSpain is one of the leading conferences in Europe that brings together more than 850 innovative organizations to promote innovation, investment, collaboration, and new business opportunities in the European biotechnology field.

Make sure you join Alira Health’s panel “New EU Regulations: Overcoming Challenges to Deliver Cell Therapies to Patients in Need” moderated by our own Chus Castillo, Partner Consulting, Iberia.

Events

Category:

Biotech Spain

Published on:

August 16, 2023

Want to meet at BioSpain? Contact us to set up a meeting.

About Our Panels

New EU Regulations: Overcoming Challenges to Deliver Cell Therapies to Patients in Need

13:00 h| September 27th
In 2021 the European Union launched an initiative to promote cooperation on health technology assessment (HTA). This project is a first step in the development of a future EU HTA system. Further regulatory harmonization in the EU is also being addressed through the Clinical Trials Regulation applicable since 2022.

In this round table we will analyse how this new framework will bear upon the already challenging standards required to bring advanced therapy medicinal products, and more specifically cell therapies, to the patient.

Speakers:

Chus Castillo – Partner Consulting Iberia
Robert Fabregat – GM Biocat HUB Advanced Therapies Catalonia
Gonzalo Calvo Rojas – Advanced Therapies Coordinator, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
Natacha Bolaños – Global Alliances Manager, Lymphoma Coalition
Isabel Pineros – Director, Access Department Farmaindustria
Beatriz González Martín-Moro – Government Affairs Head Spain, The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson

Precision Oncology: Outlook for the Future

10:15 h| September 26th
Precision oncology involves molecular profiling of tumors to identify targetable alterations, genomic testing, including next-generation sequencing (NGS) and other platforms and technologies to identify tumor specific genetic alterations and prescribe a personalized therapeutic recommendation. Precision oncology leads to more effective and safer treatments, increasing chances of success and survival. Targeted oncology drugs, such as monoclonal antibodies, provide further rationale for developing these approaches.

This round table will provide a review of the state of the art and examine the many opportunities that novel platforms open for the future of oncology.

Speakers:

Elena Sánchez – COO, Amadix
Manuel Vázquez – Principal Consulting Iberia, Alira Health
Cristina Nadal – Executive Policy Director, MSD
Miquel Balcells – Exec. Medical Director, Amgen

Are we Ready for Gene Therapies?

12:00 h| September 26th
As more gene therapies are approved by the FDA and EMA, it is now becoming clear that gene therapies are the medicine of the future. The challenges, however, can be daunting. More precise gene editing tools, such as CRISPR-CAS9, to avoid off-target and secure precision insertions are critical for the safety and efficacy of the new therapies. Therapies treating rare diseases need to overcome pricing and reimbursement challenges for healthcare providers. GMP manufacturing of vectors and DNA needs to be process robust, scalable, and capable of delivering in the required timelines.

In this roundtable, we’ll discuss these challenges with some of the leaders of this revolution in Spain and abroad.

Speakers:

José María Giménez – Chief Scientific & Medical Officer, Esteve
Joris Pezzini – Executive Vice President, Biopharma, Alira Health
Ana Ricobaraza – Syngoi
Avencia Sánchez-Mejías – CEO, Integra Therapeutics
Philip Roche – Founder, CEO & CSO, Jenethera Therapeutics

Rational Drug Design and New Platforms for Drug Discovery and Screening

15:00 h| September 27th
Traditional drug discovery relies on screening thousands of molecules in the hopes of identifying a druggable entity. Often the mechanism of action is not known or well-understood. This process is costly and time consuming. In contrast, rational drug design is a scientific approach that relies on the biological target characterization to design a molecule specifically targeting and treating the disease. This approach should lead to the development of more effective drugs with fewer side effects.

This session will illustrate how Spanish biotech companies are approaching rational drug design and novel platforms for drug discovery.

Speakers:

Pablo V. Escriba, – CEO, Laminar Pharmaceuticals
Jordi Hernández – Principal Biopharma, Alira Health
José María Giménez – Chief Scientific & Medical Officer, Esteve
María Majellaro – Chief Scientific Officer, Celtarys
Lucía Díaz – Director of Drug Design, Nostrum Biodiscovery

About Our Speakers

Chus Castillo

Partner, Consulting Iberia Chus has more than 35 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including management roles for biotech and big pharma companies in Spain. His expertise is in industry strategy, R&D, regulatory, marketing and sales, public affairs, and market access. With a track record of over 150 transactions across a range of consulting assignments, Chus’s work includes national and international projects in the U.S. and the EU 5.

Manuel Vázquez

Principal Manuel has 11 years of experience in strategy, market access, HEOR, and RWE. His expertise areas include P&MA strategy including launch price strategy and indication expansion, value differentiation and communication, and European payer environments for innovative, generics, and biosimilar drugs.

Joris Pezzini

Executive Vice President, Biopharma Joris has 20 years of experience in the Biotech and pharma industry, including science and business roles in Biotechs, mid-size pharma, and consulting firms. Before joining Alira Health in 2019, Joris was head of licensing for UCB, a €4B pharma company. Joris is a biotechnology engineer and holds a Business and Leadership degree from Harvard Business School.

Jordi Hernández

Principal, Biopharma With +15 years of consulting experience, Jordi has worked in health economics and market access, technical/commercial due diligence, value assessment and corporate strategy projects. Jordi also has extensive entrepreneurship experience in drug development.