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Conference Program

Conference Program

Join us for insightful sessions featuring lectures by representatives from academia and industry on four key themes:

  • Digitalization: Exploring big data, modeling, AI, and beyond.
  • Enabling Technologies and Platforms.
  • Sustainability: Advancing sustainable practices in the industry.
  • Biomanufacturing, including a roundtable discussion on the current state, strengths, and needs of this ecosystem in Belgium.

Additionally, there will be ample networking opportunities with more than 150 participants from over 50 institutes during breaks and a reception with an optional dinner. The preliminary program is added below.


Preliminary Program

09:00 – Registration and Welcome

09:30 – Conference Opening: CESPE Perspectives

10:00 – Theme 1: Digitalization, Big Data, Modelling, and AI

  • Perspectives from companies like Cognizant and Elegent on the use of AI in pharmaceutical production.
  • CESPE academic experts presenting their applied research.

11:00 – Coffee Break

11:30 – Theme 2: Enabling Technologies and Platforms

  • Ajinomoto, Johnson & Johnson, and Secoya shedding light on their trajectories with new platforms such as flow chemistry, high-throughput experimentation, and continuous crystallization.
  • CESPE academic experts presenting their applied research.

12:45 – Lunch Break (Optional Speed Networking Session)

14:30 – Theme 3: Sustainability

  • Johnson & Johnson elaborating on current sustainability assessment harmonization efforts.
  • ID Lab (UGent) touching upon different approaches to make more sustainable AI solutions.
  • Circa Group discussing how bio-derived levoglucosenone can be used as a platform for large-scale production of chemical building blocks

15:50 – Coffee Break

16:15 – Theme 4: Biomanufacturing in Belgium

  • Local players like SwiftPharma and 272Bio discussing the strengths of their platforms and the challenges in developing biological veterinary therapeutics.
  • PwC will present their whitepaper on the biomanufacturing ecosystem in Belgium.
  • Panel Discussion: Biomanufacturing landscape stakeholders discussing strengths, unmet needs, roadmapping, and ongoing initiatives.

17:50 – Closing Remarks

18:00 – Reception and Dinner

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News

CESPE – Comate Hardware session

On Monday, June 1st, we had the pleasure of hosting a hardware session in collaboration with our partner, Comate. We were thrilled to have two inspiring speakers:

• Thomas De Beer, CEO of RheaVita, who has integrated all freeze-drying process steps into a continuous production line with a constant infeed of products and the concomitant outfeed of the dried product.

• Leander Van Neste, CEO of Axithra, who is developing a platform to quickly and accurately measure and monitor therapeutic drug concentrations in blood.

Both leaders shared valuable lessons learned and the challenges they’ve faced in their growth journeys. They addressed questions such as the TRL of the product at the moment of the spinoff, the major technological challenges to become GMP/IVD/MDR compliant, and the steps taken in terms of customer/problem/solution fit during the first year.

Their engaging presentations were followed by a lively Q&A session. The event concluded with an opportunity to network and digest the insights over drinks and bites.

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News

Fantastic News: CESPE in the driving seat of €41 million European PharmECO Flagship project.

We are thrilled to announce that CESPE will be coordinating a groundbreaking €41 million flagship project, PharmECO – Advancing Safe and Sustainable by Design Practices in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, of which the proposal has now officially been approved! This pioneering initiative, co-funded under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI JU Call 4, Topic 6), aims to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing by (i) implementing cutting-edge, sustainable, and scalable manufacturing technologies, and (ii) establishing harmonized environmental sustainability assessment systems for pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals.

To achieve the ambitious goals of this project, 7 CESPE research groups will collaborate with 30 esteemed international institutes, including universities, research institutes, governmental bodies, SMEs, and major pharmaceutical companies.

PharmECO is set to kick off on October 1st, 2024.

CESPE groups involved:

  • Prof. Jo Dewulf – Sustainable Systems Engineering (STEN) research group; Faculty of Bioscience Engineering
  • Prof. Chris Stevens – Synthesis, Bioresources and Bio-organic Chemistry Research Group (SynBioC); Faculty of Bioscience Engineering
  • Prof. Ashish Kumar – Pharmaceutical Engineering Research Group; Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences 
  • Prof. Thomas De Beer – Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Process Analytical Technology Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences 
  • Prof. Delphine Desmedt Department of Public Health and Primary Care; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
  • Prof. Paul van Liedekerke – BionamiX Research Unit, Department of Data analysis and mathematical modelling,  Faculty of Bioscience Engineering
  • Prof. Jan Verwaeren – KERMIT research unit, Department of Data analysis and mathematical modelling Faculty of Bioscience Engineering

Looking Ahead:

As we embark on this exciting journey, we are committed to driving innovations that will not only advance pharmaceutical manufacturing but also contribute to a more sustainable future. Stay tuned for updates on our progress and the incredible developments we will bring to the industry.

For more information, please contact sarah.costers@ugent.be

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Registration

Conference registration

Registrations are open for the third edition of our yearly conference titled: ‘the Drivers of Tomorrow’s Landscape in Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing’.

Registrations and payments can be made through our Congrezzo platform: 

https://ugent.congrezzo.nl/cespe-conference-2024

Registration fees are €300 for industry (with a 30% reduction for members) and €75 for academia (free for members).

For the networking dinner, a supplement of €75 is charged. These early bird rates apply until September 30th.

The deadline for registration is October 21st.

For information on sponsorships and exhibition booths, as well as general questions considering the conference and CESPE, feel free to contact Maarten Debruyne (mgadbruy.debruyne@ugent.be) or Christoph Portier (Christoph.Portier@UGent.be).

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CESPE Conference 2024

The Drivers of Tomorrow’s Landscape in Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

We are excited to announce the 3rd edition of our annual CESPE Conference on Thursday, October 24th!

During this physical event in Ghent, researchers from industry and academia will present cutting-edge advances in their fields. Moreover, you will have the opportunity to network with our academic members, industrial partners, and policymakers.

Join us for insightful sessions featuring lectures by representatives from academia and industry on four key themes:

  • Digitalization: Exploring big data, modeling, AI, and beyond.
  • Enabling (formulation) Technologies and Platforms.
  • Sustainability: Advancing sustainable practices in the industry.
  • Biomanufacturing, including a roundtable discussion on the current state, strengths, and needs of this ecosystem in Belgium.

Additionally, there will be ample networking opportunities with more than 150 participants from over 50 institutes during breaks and a reception with an optional dinner.

🗓️ Date: Thursday, October 24th
📍 Location: RodeBol Events, Sint-Denijslaan 485, Gent

Registration: through our Congrezzo platform: https://ugent.congrezzo.nl/cespe-conference-2024

To get a glimpse of what to expect, check out the aftermovie from last year’s conference below and see the highlights of the insightful sessions, keynote speakers, and vibrant networking moments.

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CESPE Academy Courses

Design of Experiments (DOE)

COURSE OVERVIEW

The DOE training is hands-on and designed for individuals who want to actively engage in Experimental Design and gain a better understanding of the statistical analysis of experimental data. The course emphasizes the Optimal Design of Experiments, matching the experimental design to the problem while considering all experimental boundary conditions and constraints. Optimal DOE is computer-aided, meaning experiment runs and regression models are generated by computer algorithms; the software package used is JMP. The topics are illustrated through case studies and examples from industrial R&D, making the training particularly relevant for professionals in that field.

The course is divided into two modules, each lasting one full day. The basic module begins by covering the necessary theory, including basic training in linear multiple regression analysis for analyzing experimental data and establishing statistical process models needed for parameter screening and optimization. Additionally, the JMP software package will be introduced, and simple cases will be reviewed to describe the basic DOE approach. The advanced module covers more complex examples with specific experimental conditions. In each of the case studies, the goal is to improve the performance of a process or product through efficient exploration and optimization.



COURSE PROGRAM

A detailed overview of the different modules can be found in the following document.


If you are interested in taking this course, please email sarah.costers@ugent.be or mgadbruy.debruyne@ugent.be.

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News

Official Opening HighTru HTE Centre

We at CESPE were thrilled to attend the official opening of the HighTru Lab. This innovative facility marks a significant milestone as Belgium’s first academic lab capable of high-throughput experimentation (HTE), accelerating chemical and pharmaceutical discoveries.

HTE technology enables the simultaneous conduction and rapid analysis of numerous experiments, for example, by using 96-well plates. By leveraging miniaturization, automation, and advanced data management systems, HTE can efficiently screen vast amounts of chemical space. This approach facilitates the discovery of optimal conditions or novel reactions.

The state-of-the-art equipment of HighTru includes solid and liquid handling robots, a robotic reaction platform with integrated solid and liquid handling, several reaction platforms for high-pressure, photo-, and electrochemistry, a high-throughput UPLC-MS, and a software platform for HTE design, execution, and data analysis. This equipment operates under an open-access model, facilitating collaboration between industry and academia. This remarkable partnership, involving Ghent University, Johnson & Johnson, and the City of Ghent, with funding from the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, will accelerate research and strengthen Ghent’s reputation as a hub for cutting-edge science.

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Team

Dr. ir. Maarten Debruyne

Operational Manager

Ghent University
Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Pharmaceutical Engineering & Manufacturing
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Campus Heymans
Ottergemsesteenweg 460
B-9000 Gent, Belgium

mgadbruy.debruyne@ugent.be

+32 9 264 81 18

Maarten earned his Ph.D. from Ghent University in 2023, conducting research on the application of Porous Organic Polymers as new photocatalysts at the Synthesis, Bioresources, and Bioorganic Chemistry (SynBioC) research group. He then pursued postdoctoral research for Circa, focusing on the use of biorenewable chemicals as building blocks for pharmaceutical synthesis. Maarten joined CESPE as Operational Manager. In this role, he coordinates the design, construction, and operation of the CESPE innovation accelerator, further develops the CESPE academy, and expands the project portfolio in collaboration with partnering companies and academics.