Drug Delivery and Development:

potential for business collaborations

between Switzerland and the UK

Wednesday, 10 June 2015, 8.30am - 1pm

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Guests of honour:

David Williams, Discuva, CEO

Bertrand Ducrey, Debiopharm International, CEO

With the growing demand for personalised medicine and the ever pressing need for cost reduction, drug delivery technologies are increasingly taking centre stage in drug development. Smart delivery systems, molecules and devices have now proven their potential to release drugs more accurately to a targeted site, at a controlled rate and allowing individualised dosage.

One Nucleus, the Cambridge based international membership organisation, and Switzerland demonstrably show convergences which create a robust base for collaboration: density of key global players and SMEs, academic excellence and most crucially an entrepreneurial ecosystem focused on delivering translational research, efficiently taking new products to the market to improve patients lives.

Our speakers will highlight areas for potential collaboration between Swiss and UK organisations in the drug delivery/ development field, and present case study examples of how business is already being done between our two countries. Pitching sessions will then enable attendees to get to know each other quicker and optimise the networking.

When:		Wednesday, 10 June 2015, 8.30am - 1pm
Where:		OneNucleus Granta Park Cambrige CB21 6GS United Kingdom Map
R.S.V.P:		Please register for this event by Friday, 29 May using the online R.S.V.P form Places and pitching slots are limited and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis
Dress:		Business suit

Programme:

8.30am		Arrival, registration and networking breakfast
9.15am		Welcome by Dominik Furgler, Ambassador of Switzerland to the UK, and Harriet Fear, CEO of One Nucleus
9.30am		Panelists presentations, followed by Q&A
10.30am		Elevator Pitches by Swiss and UK companies, followed by Q&A
12am		Networking and optional finger food lunch
1pm		Programme ends

About the speakers:

Bertrand Ducrey, CEO of Debiopharm International

Debiopharm Group™ is a Swiss-based biopharmaceutical group of 4 companies active in drug development, GMP manufacturing of proprietary drugs, diagnostics, and investments. Debiopharm International SA is focused on the development of prescription drugs targeting unmet medical needs mainly in oncology, immunology and infection. The company in-licenses and develops promising biological and small molecule drug candidates for global registration. The products are out-licensed to pharmaceutical partners for worldwide commercialisation. Debiopharm Research & Manufacturing SA is a pharmaceutical research, development and production company with GMP facilities certified by the major regulatory authorities. It is the centre of expertise for medicinal chemistry for the Group. The company is a world leader in polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)-based injectables.

Bertrand will elaborate on Debiopharm partnering and investing strategy in the UK in the field of drug development.

Dave Williams, CEO of Discuva

Discuva is a drug discovery company focused on the creation of next generation targeted antimicrobials against new emerging and drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Discuva uses ground-breaking new technologies to successfully develop completely new classes of antibiotics.

Dave will share his experience on Discuva's current work with Roche to overcome the forthcoming threat promised by the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria.

Roche

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the early detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people’s health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. Roche employs roughly 70,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners.

About the organisers:

One Nucleus

One Nucleus is an international membership organisation for life science and healthcare companies. The organisation is based in Cambridge, with the majority of its members located across the Cambridge/London corridor – at the heart of Europe’s largest life science and healthcare cluster.

Key Facts and Figures: 239 biotechnology companies in the region (25% of the UK total) 88 primary R&D companies developing novel therapeutics or diagnostics (38% of the UK total) USD 143 million raised in the first 10 months of 2014 (43% of the UK total).

From these key statistics it can be seen that the region is the UK's - and in fact Europe's - major life sciences cluster, with a disproportionate share of the primary therapeutics companies and an even more disproportionate share of raised capital.

The Swiss Business Hub United Kingdom

Part of Switzerland Global Enterprise and the Embassy of Switzerland in the UK, the Swiss Business Hub UK supports small and medium sized enterprises from Switzerland and Liechtenstein wishing to export to and develop their market presence in the UK. We also provide free advice to UK organisations looking to create a subsidiary or establish technological partnerships in Switzerland.

As part of the Embassy for over 10 years and with close relationships to Swiss business and academic stakeholders, the SBH UK can draw on selected networks in both Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Our specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to biotech, medtech, robotics, cosmetic technology, innovative materials, fintech, embedded systems, predictive analytics and cybersecurity.

With the kind support of:

For any queries regarding this event, please contact: Marieke Hood, Swiss Business Hub UK, marieke.hood@eda.admin.ch, +44 20 7616 6050